Back to top

Image: Bigstock

What's in Store for Foundation Building's (FBM) Q4 Earnings?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Foundation Building Materials, Inc. is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2019 results on Feb 24, after the closing bell.

In the last reported quarter, the company’s earnings of 33 cents per share topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.1% but revenues of $565 million missed the same by 2.4%. On a year-over-year basis, earnings improved 73.7% and revenues advanced 4.2%.

Foundation Building — which shares space with Installed Building Products, Inc. (IBP - Free Report) , Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (AWI - Free Report) and Gibraltar Industries, Inc. (ROCK - Free Report) in the Zacks Building Products – Miscellaneous industry — reported better-than-expected earnings in the last four quarters, with the average surprise being 45.1%.

Trend in Estimate Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share for the quarter to be reported has been unchanged over the past 60 days at 18 cents. Nonetheless, this indicates an increase of 12.5% from the year-ago quarter. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $538.4 million, suggesting 4.3% year-over-year growth.

Factors to Note

Foundation Building — which is one of the largest specialty building product distributors of wallboard, suspended ceiling systems and metal framing in North America — is expected to have registered higher revenues and earnings, courtesy of solid demand in its core non-residential construction markets and acquisitions.

Contributions from base business branches, primarily driven by strong commercial activity and product expansion in new geographic markets, are likely to have boosted fourth-quarter sales.

Improved profitability across product lines, backed by pricing and purchasing initiatives and continued stabilization of product costs, have been boosting margins. However, continued investment in various company-wide initiatives is expected to have weighed on operating margin to some extent.

Quantitative Model Prediction

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Foundation Building 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.

Currently, it has a Zacks Rank #3 and an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.  

Click here for the 6 trades >>

Published in