Trimble (TRMB) Q3 earnings report preview: what to look for

What happened

Trimble, a geospatial technology provider, will report quarterly earnings on Wednesday before market hours. Last quarter it reported $972 million in revenue, up 11% year on year, and beat analysts' revenue and earnings-per-share estimates. Analysts expect 7.2% year-on-year revenue growth this quarter.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Investors will compare Trimble's quarterly revenue with the 7.2% growth expected and the 11% growth it just delivered. Beating estimates or raising full-year profit guidance can support the stock, while falling short can hurt it, because the stock price already reflects expectations.

Analyst inference

Peer electrical equipment companies have already reported: Bloom Energy grew revenue 138% and Advanced Energy 50.3%, both beating estimates. Bloom Energy shares traded down 11.2% after its results, a reported fact that shows strong growth alone may not lift a stock if investors expected even more.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Whether Trimble's quarterly revenue growth reaches the 7.2% year-on-year rate analysts expect, compared with the 2.9% increase in the same quarter last year. Confirmed
2. Watch whether Trimble's full-year earnings-per-share guidance, which means expected profit per share, rises again after last quarter's guidance beat analysts' expectations. Proposed
3. Compare Trimble's growth and post-earnings share reaction with Bloom Energy and Advanced Energy to judge whether investor expectations, not just results, are driving the stock. Analyst inference

Evidence

• stockstory.org