Preview: L Brands's Earnings

On Wednesday, May 19, L Brands LB will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's outlook for L Brands is included in the following 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

Analysts expect L Brands earnings of $0.98 per share. Revenue will likely be around $2.89 billion, according to the consensus estimate. L Brands EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.99. Sales were $1.65 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 198.99% increase in the company's EPS figure. Sales would be up 74.73% 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

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 480.97%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can relax 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. L Brands is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.