Ambac Financial Group Earnings Preview

Ambac Financial Group AMBC announces its next round of earnings this Monday, May 10. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Monday's Q1 earnings announcement.

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

Ambac Financial Group's per-share loss will be near $0.53 on sales of $53.50 million, according to Wall Street analysts. Ambac Financial Group EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $5.75. Sales were $-70.00 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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Monday, earnings would be up 90.78%. Revenue would be have grown 176.43% from the same quarter last year. 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 14.26%. 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. Ambac Financial Group is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.