A Preview Of Cintas's Earnings

On Thursday, July 15, Cintas CTAS will release its latest earnings report. Decipher the announcement with Benzinga's help.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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

Cintas EPS is expected to be around $2.3, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $1.82 billion. In the same quarter last year, Cintas reported earnings per share of $1.35 on sales of $1.62 billion.

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 analyst consensus estimate would represent a 70.37% increase in the company's earnings. Revenue would be up 12.35% 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 Cintas were trading at $380.98 as of July 13. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 37.48%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Cintas is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.