Preview: Fifth Third Bancorp's Earnings

Fifth Third Bancorp FITB unveils its next round of earnings this Tuesday, April 20. Get prepared with Benzinga's ultimate preview for Fifth Third Bancorp's Q1 earnings.

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

Wall Street expects EPS of $0.69 and sales around $1.90 billion. In the same quarter last year, Fifth Third Bancorp reported earnings per share of $0.13 on revenue of $1.90 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, earnings would be up 430.77%. Revenue would have fallen 0.21% from the same quarter last year. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp were trading at $38.2 as of April 16. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 135.92%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably content going into this earnings release.

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