Preview: ZTO Express (Cayman)'s Earnings

ZTO Express (Cayman) ZTO announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, May 19. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Wednesday's Q1 earnings announcement.

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

Analysts expect ZTO Express (Cayman) earnings of $0.16 per share. Revenue will likely be around $951.76 million, according to the consensus estimate. ZTO Express (Cayman) EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.12. Sales were $553.03 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 match the consensus estimate when it reports Wednesday, EPS would be up 33.33%. Revenue would be up 72.1% from the year-ago period. Here is how the ZTO Express (Cayman)'s reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) were trading at $30.87 as of May 17. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 8.84%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. ZTO Express (Cayman) is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.