Preview: Molina Healthcare's Earnings

Molina Healthcare MOH releases its next round of earnings this Wednesday, April 28. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Molina Healthcare's Q1 earnings report.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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 Molina Healthcare's EPS to be near $3.64 on sales of $6.07 billion. Molina Healthcare reported a per-share profit of $3.02 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $4.55 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.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 20.53% increase for the company. Sales would be up 33.44% from the same quarter last year. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 50.84%. 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. Molina Healthcare is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.