Back to top

Image: Bigstock

How Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Looks Ahead of Q1 Earnings

Read MoreHide Full Article

Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT - Free Report) is scheduled to release first-quarter fiscal 2020 results on Feb 5, after the closing bell. The leading producer and distributor of lawn and garden products reported a negative earnings surprise of 76.5% in the preceding quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is pegged at a loss of 12 cents, suggesting deterioration from the year-ago earnings of 3 cents.

The consensus estimate for quarterly revenues is pegged at $472.3 million, which indicates growth of 2.2% from the year-ago quarter.

Key Factors to Note

In the last earnings call, Central Garden & Pet had informed that unfavorable timing of orders in the quarter, continued sluggishness in the animal health businesses and rising corporate expenses are likely to hurt the first-quarter fiscal 2020 bottom line. Moreover, the company has been witnessing a rise in SG&A expenses for a while on account of higher selling and delivery expenses as well as warehouse and administrative costs. We note that management had earlier projected loss of 10-15 cents per share for the first quarter.

Nonetheless, robust organic sales growth in the Garden and Pet segments as well as contributions from the C&S and Arden acquisitions has been boosting revenues for the company. Also, the company has been steadily making strides in advancing its digital capabilities and optimizing supply chain. Moreover, in order to cushion margin performance, management is focusing on lowering cost of goods sold.

We note that the consensus estimate for first-quarter sales for the Garden and Pet segments is pegged at $128 million and $351 million, respectively, suggesting year-over-year growth of 4.9% and 3.2%.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Central Garden & Pet this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Although Central Garden & Pet carries a Zacks Rank #3, it has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.

Stocks With a Favorable Combination

Here are some companies that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat:

Zumiez Inc. (ZUMZ - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.24% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +2.84% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Crocs, Inc. (CROX - Free Report) presently has an Earnings ESP of +30.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Today's Best Stocks from Zacks

Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2019, while the S&P 500 gained and impressive +53.6%, five of our strategies returned +65.8%, +97.1%, +118.0%, +175.7% and even +186.7%.

This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2019, while the S&P averaged +6.0% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +54.7% per year.

See their latest picks free >>

Published in