Earnings Preview for Switch

On Monday, May 10, Switch SWCH will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

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

Switch earnings will be near $0.04 per share on sales of $128.83 million, according to analysts. Switch EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.04. Revenue was $128.10 million.

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 no change for the company. Sales would be up 0.57% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Switch were trading at $17.95 as of May 06. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 0.28%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Switch is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.