Oil drilling equipment maker FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI Quick QuoteFTI - Free Report) is set to release its second-quarter 2016 results after the closing bell on Wednesday, Jul 20.

In the preceding three-month period, the Houston, TX-based firm delivered a negative earnings surprise of 29.03%. The underperformance stemmed from weakness in the North American land market and negative impact of the strengthening U.S. dollar.

Coming to earnings surprise history, the company does not have a good record. FMC Technologies missed estimates in three of the last four quarters.

FMC TECH INC Price and EPS Surprise

FMC TECH INC Price and EPS Surprise | FMC TECH INC Quote

Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to Consider This Quarter

FMC Technologies boasts a strong position, particularly in the subsea systems market. It is the company’s largest and fastest growing business, which accounts for about two-thirds of its revenues. Subsea products, especially subsea trees, controls and manifold and tie-in systems, have seen an increase in demand. Given the company’s already robust position in this market, we expect margins in the subsea segment to expand.

Also, FMC Technologies’ strong backlog – now around $4 billion – reflects not only steady demand from its customers, but also long-term earnings and cash flow visibility. This enables the company to navigate uncertainty better than many of its peers.

However, crude remains weak, which has compelled top energy companies to resort to spending cuts (particularly on the costly upstream projects) owing to lower profit margins. This, in turn, means less work for equipment suppliers like FMC Technologies and is likely to result in declining income in the to-be-reported quarter.

Moreover, the company has been hit hard by the significant fall in fluid control orders with decrease in pressure pumping activities.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that FMC Technologies will beat estimates this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is -10.00%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate stands at 27 cents, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged higher at 30 cents.

Zacks Rank: FMC Technologies has a Zacks Rank #3. Though a Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of ESP, a negative ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.

We caution against Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Rank #4 and 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks to Consider

While earnings beat looks uncertain for FMC Technologies, here are some firms that you may want to consider on the basis of our model, which shows that they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Legacy Reserves LP has an Earnings ESP of +15.79% and a Zacks Rank #1. The partnership is expected to release earnings results on Aug 3.

Ring Energy, Inc. (REI Quick QuoteREI - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +33.33% and a Zacks Rank #1. The company is anticipated to release earnings on Aug 8.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has an Earnings ESP of +11.25% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is likely to release earnings on Jul 26.

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