A Preview Of Iridium Communications's Earnings

On Tuesday, April 20, Iridium Communications IRDM will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's report can help you figure out the ins and outs of the earnings release.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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

Analysts are expecting Iridium Communications to report a loss of $0.05 per share. Revenue will likely be around $146.48 million, according to the consensus estimate. In the same quarter last year, Iridium Communications posted a loss of $0.01 per share on sales of $145.29 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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 400.0% decrease in the company's earnings. Sales would be up 0.82% from the year-ago period. Iridium Communications's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 78.75%. 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. Iridium Communications is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.