Earnings Preview for Sysco

On Tuesday, February 02, Sysco SYY will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

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

Sysco EPS is expected to be around $0.34, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $12.33 billion. Sysco EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.85. Revenue was $15.03 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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 60.0% decrease in the company's earnings. Revenue would have fallen 17.94% from the same quarter last year. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Shares of Sysco were trading at $71.51 as of January 29. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 4.86%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Sysco is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.