D.R. Horton Earnings Preview

On Thursday, April 22, D.R. Horton DHI will release its latest earnings report. Decipher the announcement with Benzinga's help.

Net Income, Earnings, 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 analysts see D.R. Horton reporting earnings of $2.15 per share on revenue of $6.10 billion. D.R. Horton EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $1.3. Revenue was $4.50 billion.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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, earnings would be up 65.38%. Revenue would be up 35.56% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of D.R. Horton were trading at $91.92 as of April 20. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 137.34%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. D.R. Horton is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.