Earnings Preview: Worthington Industries

Worthington Industries WOR announces its next round of earnings this Thursday, June 24. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Thursday's Q4 earnings announcement.

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

Wall Street analysts see Worthington Industries reporting earnings of $1.75 per share on revenue of $1.04 billion. In the same quarter last year, Worthington Industries reported EPS of $0.49 on revenue of $611.63 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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Thursday, quarterly profit would be up 257.14%. Sales would be up 70.04% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Worthington Industries were trading at $58.11 as of June 22. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 61.44%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Worthington Industries is scheduled to hold the call at 09:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.