Ball Corp (BLL) to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in Store?

Ball Corporation BLL is scheduled to report first-quarter 2020 results on May 7, before the opening bell.

Which Way are the Estimates Headed?

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ball Corporation’s first-quarter earnings per share is pegged at 60 cents, suggesting 22.4% year-over-year growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total sales of $2.84 billion reflects year-over-year growth of 2%.

Let’s see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement.

Ball Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Ball Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Ball Corporation price-eps-surprise | Ball Corporation Quote

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for Ball Corporation this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: The Earnings ESP for Ball Corporation is +1.56%. This is because currently the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at 61 cents and 60 cents, respectively.

Zacks Rank: Ball Corporation currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.

Factors at Play

Ball Corporation continues to execute its strategies of achieving better value for standard products and higher growth for specialty products. The company is focused on pursuing cost-out programs, completing growth capital projects and banking on the inherent sustainability attributes of metal packaging. These efforts are anticipated to have bolstered the company’s margin in the first quarter. Further, the company’s results will likely reflect the positive impact of solid demand for aluminum packaging and solid aerospace backlog.

Moreover, the global beverage-can demand continues to spike as consumers now prefer cans over glass and plastic. The company remains well positioned to capitalize on this demand by investing in capacity expansion and new products.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Beverage packaging, South America segment’s net sales is pegged at $438 million, calling for a year-over-year decline of 0.7%. The segment’s operating income is pinned at $72 million, suggesting year-over-year growth of 6%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Beverage packaging, Europe segment’s sales is pinned at $683 million for the first quarter, reflecting year-on-year growth of 7%. Segment operating income is projected at $69 million, calling for an improvement of 7.8% year over year. Customers’ growing preferences for cans, as well as investment in incremental capacity in the company’s existing facilities are anticipated to have aided the segment’s performance during the period under consideration.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Aerospace segment's revenues is pinned at $375 million for the quarter under review, reflecting year-over-year increase of about 14.3%. The segment’s operating income is projected at $34.6 million, suggesting year-over-year growth of 15.3%. A robust aerospace backlog is likely to have contributed to the segment’s top- and bottom-line growth during the quarter. The company is innovating additional products to expand its aerospace infrastructure and testing capabilities.

The Beverage packaging, North and Central America segment is projected to generate sales of $1,190 million, reflecting a 5.2% year-over-year increase. Segment operating income is projected at $152 million, indicating a year-over-year improvement of 28.8%. The segment is anticipated to have benefited from operational efficiency, new customer contracts, mitigation of U.S. aluminum scrap headwinds and increased availability of cans. However, the segment has been battling short-term costs due to tight inventories.

Nonetheless, headwinds related to currency and higher freight rates are likely to have affected Ball Corporation’s performance in the March-end quarter.

Price Performance

Shares of Ball Corporation have gained 6.8% in the past year, outperforming the industry's growth of 5%.

Stocks Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates

Here are a few Industrial Products stocks which you may consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.

Axon Enterprise, Inc. AAXN has an Earnings ESP of +18.3% and carries a Zacks Rank of 3 currently. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

TPI Composites, Inc. TPIC currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +172.7%.

Nordson Corporation NDSN, another Zacks #3 Ranked stock, has an Earnings ESP of +1.17%.

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