A Preview Of Core Laboratories's Earnings

On Wednesday, January 27, Core Laboratories CLB will release its latest earnings report. Here is Benzinga's outlook for the company.

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

Based on management's projections, Core Laboratories analysts model for earnings of $0.15 per share on sales of $108.98 million. In the same quarter last year, Core Laboratories posted EPS of $0.38 on sales of $156.78 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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 report earnings in line when it publishes results Wednesday, earnings would be down 60.53%. Sales would be down 30.49% from the same quarter last year. Core Laboratories's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Core Laboratories were trading at $35.03 as of January 25. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 2.66%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Core Laboratories is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.