Earnings Preview For Rush Enterprises

Rush Enterprises RUSHA announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, July 20. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q2 earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, 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

Sell-side analysts expect Rush Enterprises's EPS to be near $0.79 on sales of $1.31 billion. Rush Enterprises EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.46. Sales were $1.00 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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Tuesday, quarterly profit would be up 71.74%. Revenue would be up 30.61% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Rush Enterprises were trading at $44.73 as of July 16. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 46.93%. 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. Rush Enterprises is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.