Olin Earnings Preview

On Thursday, January 28, Olin OLN will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

Net Income, Earnings, 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

Analysts are expecting Olin to report a loss of $0.09 per share. Revenue will likely be around $1.45 billion, according to the consensus estimate. In the same quarter last year, Olin posted EPS of $0.08 on sales of $1.39 billion.

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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate, earnings would be down 12.5%. Revenue would be up 4.54% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the Olin's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Olin were trading at $24.73 as of January 26. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 49.04%. 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. Olin is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.