Earnings Preview for Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton BAH announces its next round of earnings this Friday, January 29. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Friday's Q3 earnings announcement.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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

Wall Street analysts see Booz Allen Hamilton reporting earnings of $0.93 per share on sales of $2.00 billion. In the same quarter last year, Booz Allen Hamilton announced EPS of $0.8 on revenue of $1.85 billion.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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 when it reports Friday, earnings would be up 16.25%. Sales would be up 8.17% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Booz Allen Hamilton were trading at $97.46 as of January 27. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 25.26%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably happy going into this earnings release.

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