Earnings Preview: Wintrust Financial

On Wednesday, January 20, Wintrust Financial WTFC will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's outlook for Wintrust Financial is included in the following report.

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

Wall Street expects EPS of $1.41 and sales around $414.20 million. In the same quarter last year, Wintrust Financial announced EPS of $1.44 on revenue of $374.10 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 Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 2.08% decrease for the company. Revenue would be up 10.72% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Wintrust Financial were trading at $67.77 as of January 18. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 5.36%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Wintrust Financial is scheduled to hold the call at 11:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.