Earnings Outlook For McGrath RentCorp

McGrath RentCorp MGRC announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, February 23. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q4 earnings announcement.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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

Wall Street analysts see McGrath RentCorp reporting earnings of $1.03 per share on sales of $143.01 million. McGrath RentCorp EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $1.07. Revenue was $147.22 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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 3.74% decrease in the company's earnings. Sales would have fallen 2.86% from the same quarter last year. McGrath RentCorp's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of McGrath RentCorp were trading at $79.22 as of February 19. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 2.1%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. McGrath RentCorp is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.