Earnings Outlook for Solar Capital

Solar Capital SLRC releases its next round of earnings this Wednesday, May 05. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's Q1 earnings report.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Wall Street expects EPS of $0.38 and sales around $35.67 million. Solar Capital reported a per-share profit of $0.38 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $32.90 million.

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

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 0% decrease in the company's earnings. Sales would be up 8.41% from the same quarter last year. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Shares of Solar Capital were trading at $18.89 as of May 03. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 30.57%. 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. Solar Capital is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.