Merit Medical Systems Earnings Preview

Merit Medical Systems MMSI releases its next round of earnings this Thursday, April 29. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company'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

Wall Street analysts see Merit Medical Systems reporting earnings of $0.36 per share on revenue of $230.85 million. In the same quarter last year, Merit Medical Systems announced EPS of $0.38 on revenue of $243.53 million.

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 Thursday, earnings would be down 5.26%. Sales would be down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Merit Medical Systems were trading at $63.39 as of April 27. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 55.34%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be satisfied going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Merit Medical Systems is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.