Earnings Preview for ArcBest

ArcBest ARCB announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, November 03. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q3 earnings announcement.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, And Earnings Per Share?

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

Analysts covering ArcBest modeled for quarterly EPS of $0.79 on revenue of $774.39 million. In the same quarter last year, ArcBest reported earnings per share of $1.02 on revenue of $787.56 million.

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 22.55% decline in the company's EPS figure. Sales would be down 1.67% 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 ArcBest were trading at $30.52 as of October 29. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 3.45%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. ArcBest is scheduled to hold the call at 09:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.