Conagra Brands (CAG) is set to release their third quarter earnings report on April 4^th, and their stock is steadily inching up in anticipation.

Should investors be taking a chance on this stock right now or holding back to see how the report shakes out? Looking at industry estimates for the company, Conagra could be set to show a $3.03 billion revenue statement for the third quarter.

RBC Capital Markets puts the revenue estimate slightly lower, at $3 billion flat. If estimates pan out on Thursday, then the stock may hit about $29 per share. The expected numbers are nothing extraordinary, but they do demonstrate that Conagra is doing just fine.

How Will the Stock Perform?

Conagra’s stock price has been climbing for the past few days. It is up 0.22% from the previous day and is at $29.75 per share. Five days ago, the stock was priced at $29.06 per share.

Though there is no substantial gain, the minor uptick from day to day shows increased interest in the stock and at least some expectation that it will perform well once the earnings report is released.

Investors should keep in mind that with a sluggish stock market and high inflation that does not want to budge, company earnings reports need to be quite positive for a stock to perform well. That is simply the reality of the current market, and Conagra is set to perform mildly, with the stock likely to stay almost flat or tick down a little.

Conagra is expected to show progress but not have any game-changing announcement to make following the report’s release. They are likely to play it safe for a while and let solid numbers speak for themselves. While Conagra has proven to be a reliable company, their stock is not demonstrating much likelihood of outperforming expectations or long investors make sizable gains over the short term.