Will Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) Miss on Q1 Earnings?

Media giant Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. FOXA is set to report its first-quarter fiscal 2015 results on Nov 4, 2014. Last quarter, it posted a positive surprise of 10.5%. Let's see how things are developing for this announcement.

Growth Factors This Quarter

Twenty-First Century Fox's earnings are likely to be marred by the soft ratings of FOX Network and rising programming costs given the higher sports rights deals (MLB, NASCAR and Cricket World Cup). Moreover, currency headwinds emerge as pressing concern.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively project Twenty-First Century Fox as likely to beat earnings this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 #2 or #3 for this to happen. This is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP:  ESP for Twenty-First Century Fox is -2.70%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged at 36 cents and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at 37 cents.

Zacks Rank: Twenty-First Century Fox Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) when combined with a negative ESP makes surprise prediction unlikely.

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

Other Stocks to Consider

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

CST Brands, Inc. CST has an Earnings ESP of +8.93% and a Zacks Rank #2  (Buy).

The Walt Disney Company DIS has an Earnings ESP of +3.41% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ADM has an Earnings ESP of +2.60% and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)