Preview: Xerox Holdings's Earnings

Xerox Holdings XRX will be releasing its next round of earnings this Tuesday, April 20. For all of the relevant information, here is your guide for Tuesday's Q1 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

Based on management's projections, Xerox Holdings analysts model for earnings of $0.3 per share on sales of $1.59 billion. Xerox Holdings reported a per-share profit of $0.21 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $1.86 billion.

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 42.86% increase in the company's earnings. Sales would be down 14.52% on a year-over-year basis. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares of Xerox Holdings are up 50.75%.

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