Preview: HCA Healthcare's Earnings

HCA Healthcare HCA unveils its next round of earnings this Tuesday, July 20. Get prepared with Benzinga's ultimate preview for HCA Healthcare's Q2 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

Analysts predict HCA Healthcare will report earnings of $3.16 per share on revenue of $13.61 billion. HCA Healthcare reported a per-share profit of $3.23 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $11.07 billion.

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 match the consensus estimate when it reports Tuesday, EPS would have fallen 2.17%. Sales would be have grown 22.97% from the same quarter last year. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare were trading at $219.2 as of July 16. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 97.56%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. HCA Healthcare is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.