Earnings Preview: Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products MWA releases its next round of earnings this Monday, May 03. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's Q2 earnings report.

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

Mueller Water Products EPS is expected to be around $0.12, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $247.70 million. Mueller Water Products reported a profit of $0.15 per share when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $257.70 million.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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 report earnings in line when it publishes results Monday, earnings would be down 20.0%. Sales would be down 3.88% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 55.3%. 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. Mueller Water Products is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.