A Preview Of Patterson Companies's Earnings

Patterson Companies PDCO releases its next round of earnings this Wednesday, June 23. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Patterson Companies's Q4 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

Wall Street expects EPS of $0.52 and sales around $1.52 billion. Patterson Companies reported a profit of $0.43 per share when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $1.29 billion.

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, earnings would be up 20.93%. Sales would be up 18.2% from the year-ago period. Here is how the Patterson Companies's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Patterson Companies were trading at $35.28 as of June 21. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 73.14%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be satisfied going into this earnings release.

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