Cintas Corp (CTAS) is set to report its second quarter earnings results Thursday morning before the market opens, and Wall Street analysts have been busy adjusting their expectations.
The Cincinnati-based uniform and facility services company is expected to deliver earnings of $1.19 per share, which would represent a solid jump from the $1.09 per share it posted in the same quarter last year. Analysts are forecasting revenue of $2.77 billion, compared to $2.56 billion in the year-ago period.
The earnings report comes about six weeks after Cintas announced a quarterly cash dividend and unveiled a new $1.0 billion stock buyback authorization on October 28. Shares closed Wednesday at $187.37, down slightly by 0.1%.
What the Top Analysts Are Forecasting
Looking at recent analyst activity from Wall Street's most accurate forecasters reveals a pattern of caution heading into the earnings print. Here's what the top-rated analysts have been saying:
Morgan Stanley's Toni Kaplan, who maintains a 61% accuracy rate, kept an Equal-Weight rating on December 17 but trimmed the price target from $220 to $210.
Wells Fargo analyst Jason Haas (65% accuracy rate) also stuck with an Equal-Weight rating on November 25 while making a more substantial cut to the price target, slashing it from $218 to $185.
RBC Capital's Ashish Sabadra, boasting a 73% accuracy rate, maintained a Sector Perform rating back on September 25 and reduced the price target from $240 to $206.
JP Morgan analyst Andrew Steinerman (69% accuracy) has been more optimistic with an Overweight rating, though he also lowered his price target from $246 to $230 on September 25.
The most bullish take comes from Baird's Andrew Wittmann, who has the highest accuracy rate in this group at 75%. He maintained a Neutral rating on July 18 but actually raised his price target from $227 to $230, going against the grain of recent downgrades.
The mixed signals from analysts suggest there's genuine uncertainty about how Cintas will navigate current market conditions, even as the company continues to grow its top and bottom lines year-over-year.
