Vulcan Materials's Earnings: A Preview

On Tuesday, May 04, Vulcan Materials VMC will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

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

Vulcan Materials earnings will be near $0.45 per share on sales of $1.02 billion, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Vulcan Materials announced EPS of $0.47 on revenue of $1.05 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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 4.26% decrease in the company's earnings. Sales would have fallen 2.76% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Vulcan Materials were trading at $178.53 as of April 30. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 66.75%. 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. Vulcan Materials is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.