Earnings Preview For Mitcham Industries (MIND)

Mitcham Industries Inc. MIND will be reporting its 2011 fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the bell today. Analysts are expecting a profit of $0.21 per share, which is a big improvement over the $0.06 per share it earned in the year ago period. Sales are expected to come in at $20.64 million. There has been no change in earnings estimates over the past three months. The company engages in the lease, sale, and service of seismic equipment to the oil and gas industry worldwide. It also sells new and used seismic equipment, as well as involves in the design, manufacture, and sale of marine seismic equipment. This is a small cap stock with a market capitalization of $140 million and it only trades 39,000 shares per day. Additionally only four analysts cover the stock, so there is the potential for earnings to come in significantly different from the consensus estimate. In fact, the company has deviated from the estimate by at least 22.20% in each of the past four quarters, with the last three registering huge positive surprises. The stock has soared to over $14 from a 52-week low of $5.56, so it might take another large earnings beat to propel the stock ever higher. A small beat or worse will likely cause some profit taking after the announcement.