Earnings Preview: FLIR Systems

FLIR Systems FLIR releases its next round of earnings this Friday, October 30. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to FLIR Systems's Q3 earnings report.

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

FLIR Systems EPS will likely be near $0.55 while revenue will be around $470.75 million, according to analysts. FLIR Systems reported a profit of $0.59 per share when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $471.25 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 6.78% decline in the company's EPS figure. Sales would be down 0.11% 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 FLIR Systems were trading at $34.02 as of October 28. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 36.47%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. FLIR Systems is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.