Earnings Preview: Brinker International

On Wednesday, January 27, Brinker International EAT will release its latest earnings report. Check out Benzinga's preview to understand the implications.

Net Income, Earnings, 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

Brinker International EPS will likely be near $0.33 while revenue will be around $759.11 million, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Brinker International reported earnings per share of $1.01 on revenue of $869.30 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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Wednesday, EPS would have fallen 67.33%. Revenue would be down 12.68% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Brinker International were trading at $64.07 as of January 25. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 47.52%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be satisfied going into this earnings release.

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