Huntsman's Earnings Outlook

Huntsman HUN releases its next round of earnings this Friday, April 30. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's Q1 earnings report.

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

Wall Street analysts see Huntsman reporting earnings of $0.58 per share on revenue of $1.75 billion. In the same quarter last year, Huntsman reported earnings per share of $0.29 on sales of $1.59 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 post earnings in line with the consensus estimate when it reports Friday, EPS would be up 100.0%. Revenue would be have grown 9.86% from the same quarter last year. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Huntsman were trading at $28.795 as of April 28. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 80.75%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Huntsman is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.