Preview: Freeport-McMoRan's Earnings

Freeport-McMoRan FCX announces its next round of earnings this Thursday, April 22. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Thursday's Q1 earnings announcement.

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

Analysts covering Freeport-McMoRan modeled for quarterly EPS of $0.5 on revenue of $4.88 billion. Freeport-McMoRan's loss in the same period a year ago was $0.16 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $2.80 billion.

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.

The Wall Street estimate would represent a 412.5% increase in the company's earnings. Revenue would be up 74.41% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the Freeport-McMoRan's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan were trading at $35.87 as of April 20. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 352.94%. 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. Freeport-McMoRan is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.