Valmont Industries Earnings Preview

Valmont Industries VMI announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, February 17. Here is Benzinga's look at Valmont Industries's Q4 earnings report.

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

Wall Street expects EPS of $1.79 and sales around $724.76 million. In the same quarter last year, Valmont Industries reported earnings per share of $1.66 on revenue of $683.63 million.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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 match the consensus estimate when it reports Wednesday, earnings would be up 7.83%. Sales would be up 6.02% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the Valmont Industries's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares of Valmont Industries are up 46.32%.

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