Earnings Outlook For Enerplus

Enerplus ERF unveils its next round of earnings this Friday, November 06. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for the 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

Enerplus EPS is expected to be around $0.11, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $224.81 million. In the same quarter last year, Enerplus announced EPS of $0.27 on revenue of $257.67 million.

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 59.26% decrease in the company's earnings. Revenue would be down 12.75% 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 Enerplus were trading at $1.82 as of November 04. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 71.38%. 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. Enerplus is scheduled to hold the call at 11:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.