Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (ARCO) Earnings: An Early Look

Earnings season is winding down, with most companies already having reported their quarterly results. But there are still some companies left to report, and Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) is one of them. The key to making smart investment decisions with stocks releasing their quarterly reports is to anticipate how they’ll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise.

Those who know Spanish will understand the reference to the Golden Arches, as Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) is the biggest McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) franchisee in Latin America. But with McDonald’s having seen some struggles in its own overseas business, has Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) dealt with the same challenges? Let’s take an early look at what’s been happening with Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) over the past quarter and what we’re likely to see in its quarterly report on Friday.

Stats on Arcos Dorados

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Will Arcos Dorados give investors what they want this quarter?
Analysts have kept their fourth-quarter earnings views on Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) rock-steady over the past few months. But investors haven’t been quite as comfortable, as they’ve seen their shares lose 1% of their value in a stock market that has generally been soaring.

For years, Arcos Dorados has been an attractive way to play the booming consumer market in emerging economies of Latin America. But during 2012, aggressive action from the Brazilian government to rein in speculation sent its currency reeling, which hurt earnings at Arcos. Yet the company has seen impressive same-store sales when you exclude the currency impact, and Arcos has taken advantage of far less saturation in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America to push growth aggressively.