Suncor Energy Earnings Preview

Suncor Energy SU announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, February 03. Here is Benzinga's look at Suncor Energy's Q4 earnings report.

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

Analysts expect Suncor Energy earnings of $0.5 per share. Revenue will likely be around $7.54 billion, according to the consensus estimate. Suncor Energy earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.39 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $7.39 billion.

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 28.21% increase in the company's earnings. Sales would be have grown 2.03% from the same quarter last year. Suncor Energy's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Suncor Energy were trading at $16.775 as of February 01. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 44.96%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Suncor Energy is scheduled to hold the call at 09:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.