R.R.Donnelley & Sons's Earnings: A Preview

R.R.Donnelley & Sons RRD announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, April 27. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q1 earnings announcement.

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

R.R.Donnelley & Sons earnings will be near $0.15 per share on sales of $1.12 billion, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, R.R.Donnelley & Sons reported EPS of $0.33 on revenue of $1.41 billion.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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.

The Wall Street estimate would represent a 54.55% decline in the company's earnings. Revenue would be down 20.57% from the same quarter last year. R.R.Donnelley & Sons's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of R.R.Donnelley & Sons were trading at $6.05 as of April 23. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 362.4%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. R.R.Donnelley & Sons is scheduled to hold the call at 11:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.