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What's in the Offing for HP Inc. (HPQ) This Earnings Season?

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HP Inc. (HPQ - Free Report) is slated to report third-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Aug 30.

The company expects fiscal third-quarter non-GAAP earnings per share between $1.03 and $1.08. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.04, indicating an improvement of 4% from the year-ago quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues stands at $15.52 billion, suggesting growth of 1.5% from the prior-year quarter.

HP’s earnings surpassed the consensus mark in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 8.4%.

Let’s see how things have shaped up before the announcement.

HP Inc. Price and EPS Surprise HP Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

HP Inc. price-eps-surprise | HP Inc. Quote

Factors to Consider

HP’s third-quarter performance is likely to have benefited from the strong demand for commercial PCs, mainly driven by the reopening of economies and organizations worldwide resuming their in-premise operations. Services like HP Provisioning Connect, which aims at setting up and supporting devices in employees’ homes and offices, might have driven the company’s sales in the quarter under review.

The company’s printing segment is likely to have gained from the strong demand for consumer printers and a continued improvement in the commercial end market. The global launch of the smartest printing system, HP+, broadened the California-based company’s customer reach, which may have boosted printers’ sales in the to-be-reported quarter.

The HyperX acquisition is expected to have contributed to HPQ’s Personal System business performance in the to-be-reported quarter.

However, the declining demand for consumer and educational PCs may have weighed on personal systems’ sales in the fiscal third quarter. Moreover, industry-wide component supply constraints are expected to have negatively impacted HP’s ability to meet the demand for both PCs and printers.

Pandemic-led disruptions in manufacturing, port and logistics, together with the dynamic macro environment due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are likely to have caused operational delays. These factors are expected to have hampered HPQ’s revenues in the quarter under review.

Furthermore, the unfavorable foreign exchange is expected to have been a headwind during the to-be-reported quarter. HP expects a stronger US dollar against other currencies to have negatively impacted its third-quarter revenues by 2%.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for HPQ this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. However, that is not the case here.

HP currently carries a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) and has an Earnings ESP of -1.55%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks With the Favorable Combination

Per our model, Campbell Soup (CPB - Free Report) , Dave & Buster's Entertainment (PLAY - Free Report) and MasterCraft Boat (MCFT - Free Report) have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.

Campbell Soup carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +0.60%. The company is slated to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Sep 1. Campbell Soup’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 10.8%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CPB’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 56 cents per share, indicating a year-over-year increase of 1.8%. The consensus mark for revenues stands at $1.98 billion, suggesting a year-over-year increase of 5.5%.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment will report second-quarter fiscal 2023 results on Sep 7. The company carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +2.97% at present. Dave & Buster's Entertainment’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the trailing four quarters while missing the same on one occasion, the average surprise being 41.1%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly earnings is pegged at $1.01 per share, suggesting a year-over-year decline of 5.6%. PLAY’s quarterly revenues are estimated to increase 14.5% year over year to $432.3 million.

MasterCraft currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +1.74%. The company is slated to report its fourth-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Sep 8. MasterCraft’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the preceding four quarters, the average surprise being 17.4%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MasterCraft’s fourth-quarter earnings stands at $1.49 per share, implying a year-over-year increase of 52%. MCFT is estimated to report revenues of $195.1 million, which suggests an increase of 25.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.


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