A Preview Of Steris's Earnings

Steris STE will be releasing its next round of earnings this Tuesday, February 02. For all of the relevant information, here is your guide for Tuesday's Q3 earnings announcement.

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

Wall Street analysts see Steris reporting earnings of $1.52 per share on sales of $792.98 million. In the same quarter last year, Steris announced EPS of $1.45 on revenue of $774.26 million.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Tuesday, earnings would be up 4.83%. Revenue would be have grown 2.42% from the same quarter last year. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Steris were trading at $186.89 as of January 29. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 21.44%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

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