Earnings Preview: Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet CENTA announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, February 03. Here is Benzinga's look at Central Garden & Pet's Q1 earnings report.

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

Central Garden & Pet's per-share loss will be near $0.03 on sales of $548.80 million, according to Wall Street analysts. In the same quarter last year, Central Garden & Pet reported EPS of $0.08 on revenue of $482.83 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 match the consensus estimate, earnings would be up 62.5%. Revenue would be up 13.66% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Central Garden & Pet were trading at $38.9 as of February 01. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 30.84%. 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. Central Garden & Pet is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.