Preview: Cabot Oil & Gas's Earnings

On Thursday, February 18, Cabot Oil & Gas COG will release its latest earnings report. Check out Benzinga's preview to understand the implications.

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 Cabot Oil & Gas earnings of $0.21 per share. Revenue will likely be around $417.46 million, according to the consensus estimate. Cabot Oil & Gas reported a per-share profit of $0.3 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $461.37 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 match the consensus estimate when it reports Thursday, earnings would be down 30.0%. Revenue would be down 9.52% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 18.83%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can relax going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

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