Align Tech's Earnings: A Preview

Align Tech ALGN announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, October 21. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Wednesday's Q3 earnings announcement.

The Definitions of Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share (EPS)

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Align Tech EPS will likely be near $0.54 while revenue will be around $518.69 million, according to analysts. Align Tech earnings in the same period a year ago was $1.22 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $607.34 million.

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 given company yields the "consensus estimates." If the company posts earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate, the stock may move by a considerable margin.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 55.74% decline in the company's EPS figure. Sales would be down 14.6% from the same quarter last year. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 51.59%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably relaxed going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Align Tech is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/k9mnvzrp