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What's in the Cards for Yamana Gold (AUY) in Q1 Earnings?

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Yamana Gold, Inc. is set to release first-quarter 2018 results after the closing bell on May 2.

In the last reported quarter, the company recorded net loss of $191 million or 20 cents per share, which was narrower than loss $367.6 million or 37 cents recorded a year ago. Adjusted earnings came in at 6 cents per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 3 cents.

Revenues fell roughly 1.2% year over year to $478.8 million in the quarter.

Notably, Yamana Gold beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters, while missed in two, with an average negative surprise of 12.5%.

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

Yamana Gold Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Yamana Gold Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Yamana Gold Inc. Quote

Factors at Play

Yamana Gold, during fourth-quarter earnings call, stated that it expects to produce 900,000 ounces of gold, 8.15 million ounces of silver and 120 million pounds of copper in 2018. The company expects Cerro Moro to meaningfully contribute to EBITDA and cash flows in 2018.

The company also expects similar seasonality in 2018, which it had witnessed in the past from Chapada. As a result, about 44% of gold production and 46% of copper production is expected in the first half. For Cerro Moro, Yamana Gold expects roughly 25-30% of gold mined within the first half of 2018.

Moreover, total cost of sales for 2018 is expected to be between $1,010 and $1,030 per ounce for gold, $15-$15.25 per ounce for silver and $1.80-$1.85 per pound for copper. All-in sustaining costs  for gold is expected in the range of $725-$745 per ounce.

For the first quarter, the company’s total gold production is expected to decrease roughly 13.3% sequentially as the Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at 260,000 ounces.

Yamana Gold is likely to gain from El Penon in 2018. It expects the operation to continue delivering strong performance based on the successful right sizing actions that was completed in 2017. This is allowing the company to efficiently mine its ore range. The mine exceeded its gold production guidance and produced 160,509 ounces last year. El Penon is expected to produce 145,000 ounces of gold and 4.4 million ounces of silver this year.

Yamana Gold’s shares have lost 11.4% in the last three months, underperforming the 5.1% decline recorded by its industry.



 

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Yamana Gold is likely to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate 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 for Yamana Gold for the first quarter is 0.00%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are both pegged at a penny per share. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Yamana Gold currently carries a Zacks Rank #3, which when combined with a 0.00% ESP, makes surprise prediction difficult.

Note that we caution against Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks Poised to Beat Estimates

Here are some companies in the basic materials space you may want to consider as our model shows they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Univar Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +2.63% and sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Century Aluminum Company (CENX - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +29.41% and carries a Zacks Rank #3.  

Westlake Chemical Corporation (WLK - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.18% and carries a Zacks Rank #3.    

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