Earnings Outlook For Covanta Holding

Covanta Holding CVA will be releasing its next round of earnings this Thursday, February 18. For all of the relevant information, here is your guide for Thursday's Q4 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

Analysts are predicting Covanta Holding will report a loss of $0.01 per share on revenue of $489.03 million. In the same quarter last year, Covanta Holding announced EPS of $0.09 on revenue of $485.00 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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 111.11%. Revenue would be up 0.83% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Covanta Holding were trading at $14.92 as of February 16. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 6.47%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably upset going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Covanta Holding is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.