A Preview Of Mosaic's Earnings

Mosaic MOS will be releasing its next round of earnings this Wednesday, February 17. For all of the relevant information, here is your guide for Wednesday's Q4 earnings announcement.

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

Analysts covering Mosaic modeled for quarterly EPS of $0.2 on revenue of $2.17 billion. In the same quarter last year, Mosaic reported a loss per share of $0.29 on sales of $2.08 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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Wednesday, earnings would be up 168.97%. Revenue would be up 4.53% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Mosaic were trading at $29.22 as of February 15. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 62.95%. 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. Mosaic is scheduled to hold the call at 11:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.