Meta Financial Group's Earnings: A Preview

On Wednesday, January 27, Meta Financial Group CASH will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's outlook for Meta Financial Group 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 $0.51 and sales around $106.40 million. Meta Financial Group earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.56 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $102.13 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 report earnings in line when it publishes results Wednesday, quarterly profit would be down 8.93%. Sales would be up 4.18% 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 Meta Financial Group were trading at $38.58 as of January 25. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 5.81%. 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. Meta Financial Group is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.