Preview: Federal Agricultural's Earnings

On Thursday, February 25, Federal Agricultural AGM will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

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

Based on management's projections, Federal Agricultural analysts model for earnings of $2.29 per share on sales of $53.14 million. Federal Agricultural earnings in the same period a year ago was $2.27 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $51.52 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 up 0.88%. Sales would be have grown 3.14% from the same quarter last year. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Federal Agricultural were trading at $83.42 as of February 23. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 14.49%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be satisfied going into this earnings release.

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