Preview: Thor Industries's Earnings

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

Analysts covering Thor Industries modeled for quarterly EPS of $2.28 on revenue of $3.01 billion. Thor Industries reported a profit of $0.43 per share when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $1.68 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 Wall Street estimate would represent a 430.23% increase in the company's earnings. Sales would be up 78.95% from the same quarter last year. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Thor Industries were trading at $117.58 as of June 04. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 5.91%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Thor Industries is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.