Preview: Fortune Brands Home's Earnings

Fortune Brands Home FBHS releases its next round of earnings this Thursday, April 29. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Fortune Brands Home's Q1 earnings report.

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

Fortune Brands Home EPS is expected to be around $1.04, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $1.64 billion. In the same quarter last year, Fortune Brands Home announced EPS of $0.81 on revenue of $1.40 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.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 28.4% increase for the company. Revenue would be up 16.89% on a year-over-year basis. Fortune Brands Home's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Fortune Brands Home were trading at $105.05 as of April 27. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 116.64%. 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. Fortune Brands Home is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.