Paychex Q2 Earnings Preview

On Wednesday, Dec. 19, Paychex PAYX will release its latest earnings report. Check out Benzinga's preview to understand the earnings report's implications.

Earnings and Revenue

Based on management's projections, Paychex analysts model for earnings of 63 cents per share on sales of $858.62 million.

Paychex reported a profit of 59 cents when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $826.5 million. The Wall Street estimate would represent a 6.78 percent increase in the company's earnings. Revenue would be up 3.89 percent from the year-ago period. Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 6.91 percent. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably down going into this earnings release. Analyst estimates are adjusted higher for EPS and revenues over the past 90 days. The popular rating by analysts on Paychex stock is a Sell. The strength of this rating has maintained conviction over the past 90 days.

Conference Call

Paychex's Q2 conference call is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET and can be accessed here: https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/vv5b5guk