A Preview Of KLA's Earnings

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) unveils its next round of earnings this Wednesday, February 03. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for the 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

Wall Street analysts see KLA reporting earnings of $3.19 per share on revenue of $1.60 billion. KLA EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $2.66. Sales were $1.51 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 19.92%. Sales would be up 6.03% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of KLA were trading at $292.62 as of February 01. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 73.24%. 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. KLA is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.