LSB Industries Earnings Preview

LSB Industries LXU will be releasing its next round of earnings this Wednesday, February 24. For all of the relevant information, here is your guide for Wednesday's Q4 earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Wall Street analysts see LSB Industries reporting a loss of $0.89 per share on revenue of $79.93 million. In the same quarter last year, LSB Industries reported EPS of $0.9 on revenue of $73.90 million.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

Wall Street analysts who study this company will publish analyst estimates of revenue and EPS. The averages of all analyst EPS and revenue estimates are called the "consensus estimates"; these consensus estimates can have a significant effect on a company's performance during an earnings release. When a company posts earnings or revenue above or below a consensus estimate, it has posted an "earnings surprise", which can really move a stock depending on the difference between actual and estimated values.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Wednesday, earnings would be up 1.11%. Sales would be up 8.17% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of LSB Industries were trading at $4.26 as of February 22. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 113.11%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably happy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. LSB Industries is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.