Nexstar Media Group's Earnings: A Preview

Nexstar Media Group NXST announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, May 04. Here is Benzinga's look at Nexstar Media Group's Q1 earnings report.

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

Nexstar Media Group earnings will be near $3.48 per share on sales of $1.08 billion, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Nexstar Media Group announced EPS of $3.19 on revenue of $1.09 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 consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 9.09% increase for the company. Sales would be down 1.1% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Nexstar Media Group were trading at $147.41 as of April 30. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 124.98%. 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. Nexstar Media Group is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.