Preview: RBC Bearings's Earnings

On Friday, January 29, RBC Bearings ROLL 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

Wall Street analysts see RBC Bearings reporting earnings of $0.85 per share on sales of $141.79 million. In the same quarter last year, RBC Bearings posted EPS of $1.22 on sales of $177.02 million.

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 post earnings in line with the consensus estimate when it reports Friday, EPS would be down 30.33%. Revenue would be down 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. RBC Bearings's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of RBC Bearings were trading at $169.63 as of January 27. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 10.78%. 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. RBC Bearings is scheduled to hold the call at 11:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.