Preview: Harvard Bioscience's Earnings

On Wednesday, March 10, Harvard Bioscience HBIO will release its latest earnings report. Decipher the announcement with Benzinga's help.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and EPS are useful metrics of profitability. Total earnings also known as net income is equal to total revenue minus total expenses. Dividing net income by the total number of shares outstanding yields EPS.

Earnings And Revenue

Harvard Bioscience EPS will likely be near $0.06 while revenue will be around $27.13 million, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Harvard Bioscience reported earnings per share of $0.08 on revenue of $30.97 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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 report earnings in line when it publishes results Wednesday, earnings would be down 25.0%. Revenue would be down 12.4% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 78.14%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Harvard Bioscience is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.