Edwards Lifesciences's Earnings Outlook

Edwards Lifesciences EW releases its next round of earnings this Tuesday, April 20. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's Q1 earnings report.

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

Based on management's projections, Edwards Lifesciences analysts model for earnings of $0.47 per share on sales of $1.16 billion. In the same quarter last year, Edwards Lifesciences announced EPS of $1.51 on revenue of $1.13 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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Tuesday, quarterly profit would be down 68.87%. Sales would be have grown 2.75% from the same quarter last year. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Shares of Edwards Lifesciences were trading at $89.08 as of April 16. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 22.35%. 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. Edwards Lifesciences is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.