Mercantile Bank's Earnings Outlook

On Tuesday, July 20, Mercantile Bank MBWM will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's outlook for Mercantile Bank 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

Mercantile Bank earnings will be near $0.74 per share on sales of $41.29 million, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Mercantile Bank reported earnings per share of $0.54 on sales of $41.55 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 Tuesday, quarterly profit would be up 37.04%. Sales would be down 0.64% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 26.71%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can relax going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

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