Concerns Surrounding Service Corporation International's (NYSE:SCI) Performance

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14-05-2025

The stock price didn't jump after Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) posted decent earnings last week. Our analysis showed that there are some concerning factors in the earnings that investors may be cautious of.
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Importantly, our data indicates that Service Corporation International's profit received a boost of US$328m in unusual items, over the last year. While it's always nice to have higher profit, a large contribution from unusual items sometimes dampens our enthusiasm. When we crunched the numbers on thousands of publicly listed companies, we found that a boost from unusual items in a given year is often not repeated the next year. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. Service Corporation International had a rather significant contribution from unusual items relative to its profit to March 2025. As a result, we can surmise that the unusual items are making its statutory profit significantly stronger than it would otherwise be.
That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.
As previously mentioned, Service Corporation International's large boost from unusual items won't be there indefinitely, so its statutory earnings are probably a poor guide to its underlying profitability. As a result, we think it may well be the case that Service Corporation International's underlying earnings power is lower than its statutory profit. The good news is that its earnings per share increased slightly in the last year. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Service Corporation International.
This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Service Corporation International's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. While it might take a little research on your behalf, you may find this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with significant insider holdings to be useful.
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