Earnings Preview for Independent Bank

Independent Bank IBCP unveils its next round of earnings this Thursday, January 28. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for the earnings announcement.

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

Wall Street expects EPS of $0.61 and sales around $31.85 million. In the same quarter last year, Independent Bank reported earnings per share of $0.6 on sales of $30.71 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.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 1.67% increase for the company. Sales would be up 3.71% from the year-ago period. Independent Bank's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Independent Bank were trading at $19.54 as of January 26. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 12.58%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably unhappy going into this earnings release.

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