Earnings Outlook For American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters AEO announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, May 26. 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

Sell-side analysts expect American Eagle Outfitters's EPS to be near $0.46 on sales of $1.02 billion. In the same quarter last year, American Eagle Outfitters posted EPS of $0.84 on sales of $551.69 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 post earnings in line with the consensus estimate when it reports Wednesday, EPS would be up 154.76%. Revenue would be up 84.89% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 224.76%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. American Eagle Outfitters is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.