Paychex's Earnings: A Preview

On Friday, June 25, Paychex PAYX will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's outlook for Paychex is included in the following report.

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

Based on Paychex management projections, analysts predict EPS of $0.67 on revenue of $980.48 million. In the same quarter last year, Paychex announced EPS of $0.61 on revenue of $951.10 million.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Friday, quarterly profit would be up 9.84%. Revenue would be have grown 3.09% 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 of Paychex are up 45.22%.

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