Leading optical transport network developer Infinera Corporation INFN is slated to release first-quarter 2016 results on Apr 27, after market close.Last quarter, Infinera posted a 14.29% positive earnings surprise. Notably, the company has outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an impressive average earnings beat of 56.07%.Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.Factors Likely to Influence this QuarterRecently, Norrsken expanded its network services in Sweden with the Infinera TM-Series metro 100G solution. Notably, Infinera’s TM series is popular for its flexibility and scalability for packet-optical networking and the increasing traction of the series is likely to boost performance in the to-be-reported quarter.Moreover, introduction of the innovative Infinite Capacity Engine, a multi-terabit optical subsystem facilitating a step function in optical wave division multiplexing (WDM) performance, is a huge positive.Increased deployment of Infinera Cloud Xpress with 100 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) for accelerated datacenter interconnection also bodes well.However, stiff competition from its peers in the highly competitive digital optical networking market raises concern and might hamper the quarter’s performance.Earnings WhispersOur proven model does not conclusively show that Infinera is likely to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. Unfortunately, that is not the case here as elaborated below:Zacks ESP: Infinera has an earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at 11 cents.Zacks Rank: Infinera has a Zacks Rank #3 which increases the predictive power of ESP. However, a 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.On the other hand, we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.Stocks to ConsiderHere are some companies you may consider, as our model shows they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:Sprint Corporation S has an earnings ESP of +69.23% and a Zacks Rank #3.Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. CCOI has an earnings ESP of +25.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.Mattersight Corporation MATR has an earnings ESP of +6.67% and a Zacks Rank #3.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report INFINERA CORP (INFN): Free Stock Analysis Report SPRINT CORP (S): Free Stock Analysis Report COGENT COMM HLD (CCOI): Free Stock Analysis Report MATTERSIGHT CP (MATR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research