Earnings Outlook for Universal Health Services

Universal Health Services UHS will be releasing its next round of earnings this Monday, April 26. For all of the relevant information, here is your guide for Monday'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

Universal Health Services earnings will be near $2.27 per share on sales of $2.96 billion, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Universal Health Services reported EPS of $1.73 on revenue of $2.83 billion.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

Analysts who cover this company will publish forward-looking estimates of its revenue and EPS each quarter. Averaging together every EPS and revenue prediction that each analyst makes about a company in a quarter yields the "consensus estimates." A company posting earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate is known as an "earnings surprise" and may move the stock by a considerable margin.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Monday, quarterly profit would be up 31.21%. Sales would be have grown 4.59% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 37.88%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably relaxed going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Universal Health Services is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.