Preview: Steris's Earnings

Steris STE unveils its next round of earnings this Tuesday, May 18. Get prepared with Benzinga's ultimate preview for Steris's Q4 earnings.

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 Steris reporting earnings of $1.77 per share on sales of $876.21 million. Steris EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $1.64. Sales were $822.99 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 Tuesday, earnings would be up 7.93%. Sales would be up 6.47% from the year-ago period. Steris's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares of Steris are up 25.73%.

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