Will Boston Scientific (BSX) Beat Earnings This Quarter? - Analyst Blog

Boston Scientific Corporation BSX is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2014 results before the opening bell on Apr 29. Last quarter, Boston Scientific posted a positive earnings surprise of 10.53% while the four-quarter trailing average beat is pegged at 9.76%. Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors at Play

Despite challenging economic conditions, competitive environment, pressure on core segments and a larger-than-expected currency headwind, Boston Scientific has managed to successfully move on with its strong pipeline of products. The company has begun the year 2014 on an encouraging note with the launch of the OffRoad Re-Entry Catheter System in the U.S and the receipt of CE mark in Europe for its WallFlex Esophageal Stent in February.

Soon after, Boston Scientific obtained CE mark for its REBEL Platinum Chromium Coronary Stent System and Ingevity MRI Pacing Leads in March. Moving on, earlier this month, the company won the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a bunch of defibrillators and heart failure devices. Also, it won the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CE mark approval for the Expect Slimline (SL) Needle which will be used for Endoscopic Ultrasound-Fine Needle Aspiration (EUS-FNA) procedures.

Besides, the company is focusing on strategic initiatives like restructuring actions which include the 2014 restructuring plan, emerging markets expansion and share repurchases.

However, for quite a long time, the US defibrillator and stent markets remain as major overhangs.Despite several initiatives undertaken by the company to revive its top line, we remain cautious as its core segments – implantable cardioverter defibrillator and drug-eluting stent DES are still taking a toll on the numbers.

Earnings Whispers?

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Boston Scientific is likely to beat earnings this quarter. It is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) and a Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: BostonScientific's earnings ESP is 0.00%, as the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate both stand at $0.18.

Zacks Rank: BostonScientific's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) when combined with a 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult. We caution against stocks with Zacks Ranks #4 and 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing a negative estimate revision momentum.

Other Stocks to Consider

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

Myriad Genetics Inc. MYGN has an earnings ESP of +10.87% and sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Myriad Genetics will be reporting first-quarter earnings on May 6.

Cardinal Health, Inc. CAH has an earnings ESP of +1.00% and holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Cardinal Health will report third-quarter fiscal 2014 earnings on May 1.

We note that, Align Technology Inc. ALGN which surpassed its first-quarter 2014 earnings on Apr 23, had an earnings ESP of +13.89% and carried a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).