Meritage Homes's Earnings: A Preview

Meritage Homes MTH announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, April 28. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Wednesday's Q1 earnings announcement.

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

Analysts covering Meritage Homes modeled for quarterly EPS of $2.46 on revenue of $1.05 billion. In the same quarter last year, Meritage Homes reported EPS of $1.83 on revenue of $901.01 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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 34.43% increase in the company's earnings. Sales would be up 16.54% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the Meritage Homes's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares of Meritage Homes are up 81.42%.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Meritage Homes is scheduled to hold the call at 11:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.