SBA Communications Corporation SBACis scheduled to report first-quarter 2018 financial results after the closing bell on Apr 30. The company is likely to report higher revenues in both the operating segments on the back of healthy growth dynamics.
Whether this could result in higher earnings for the quarter remains to be seen.
Top-Line Expansion
SBA Communications is expanding its tower portfolio while seeking new growth opportunities through enhancement of its scale of operations in international markets. It is offering wireless service providers assistance in developing networks.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues from Site Leasingsegment, which accounts for the lion’s share of total revenues, is currently pegged at $427 million, up from $398 million reported in first-quarter 2017. Revenues from Site Developmentsegment are expected to be $27.7 million compared with $25.8 million reported in the prior-year quarter. Consequently, total revenues for the quarter are likely to be $453 million, up from $423 million reported in the year-earlier quarter.
Other Key Factors
Operating profit from Site Leasing in the quarter is expected to increase to $334 million from $308 million reported in the year-earlier quarter while the same from Site Development is likely to decline to $4.7 million from $5.5 million year over year.
However, the company’s financials are likely to be affected by high customer concentration and consolidation in the wireless industry.
Our proven model does not conclusively show that SBA Communications is likely to beat earnings this quarter as it possesses neither of the two key components. A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESPand a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for an earnings beat. This is not the case here as you will see below:
Zacks ESP:Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is -7.64%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.