Denny's's Earnings Outlook

On Tuesday, May 04, Denny's DENN will release its latest earnings report. Decipher the announcement with Benzinga's help.

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

Based on Denny's management projections, analysts predict EPS of $0.04 on revenue of $79.01 million. Denny's EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.17. Revenue was $96.69 million.

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.

The Wall Street estimate would represent a 76.47% decline in the company's earnings. Revenue would be down 18.29% from the year-ago period. Denny's's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 103.08%. 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. Denny's is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.