US Silica Holdings Earnings Preview

US Silica Holdings SLCA announces its next round of earnings this Friday, February 26. Here is Benzinga's look at US Silica Holdings's Q4 earnings report.

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

Analysts are predicting US Silica Holdings will report a loss of $0.35 per share on revenue of $189.73 million. In the same quarter last year, US Silica Holdings reported EPS of $0.53 on revenue of $339.06 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 Friday, EPS would be up 33.96%. Sales would be down 44.04% from the year-ago period. Here is how the US Silica Holdings's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of US Silica Holdings were trading at $11.57 as of February 24. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 157.19%. 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. US Silica Holdings is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.