Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (ARCO) Faces a Growth Slowdown

Next Tuesday, Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they’ll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you’ll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

With its huge network of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) franchises throughout Latin America, Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) has capitalized on the rise of the consumer middle class in many emerging-market countries. But lately, the company has seen its formerly rapid growth pace slow down substantially. 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.

Stats on Arcos Dorados

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Can Arcos Dorados look golden again?
Analysts have pulled back on their earnings expectations for Arcos Dorados in recent months, reducing their calls for the just-ended quarter by $0.08 per share, and reducing full-year 2013 and 2014 estimates by $0.09 and $0.13 per share, respectively. The stock has pulled back on that pessimism, falling about 6% since mid-January.

After impressive growth for such a long time, Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (NYSE:ARCO) has had to deal with challenging conditions in Latin America for more than a year now. The stock plunged 40% during 2012, as the region faced a tough economic environment that held back Arcos’ business, and those conditions haven’t improved quickly enough to get earnings moving higher yet. The recent currency devaluation in Venezuela back in February was just the latest economic hit for the company and, with a significant presence in the country, Arcos will have to keep watching Venezuela to make sure it protects its interests there in the aftermath of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s death.