Preview: Sysco's Earnings

Sysco SYY announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, November 03. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q1 earnings announcement.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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

Based on management's projections, Sysco analysts model for earnings of $0.25 per share on sales of $11.68 billion. Sysco earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.98 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $15.30 billion.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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 post earnings in line with the consensus estimate when it reports Tuesday, EPS would be down 74.49%. Revenue would be down 23.68% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Sysco were trading at $55.29 as of October 29. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 30.07%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely unhappy going into this earnings release.

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