A Preview Of MBIA's Earnings

MBIA MBI announces its next round of earnings this Monday, March 01. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Monday's Q4 earnings announcement.

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 are expecting MBIA to report a loss of $0.41 per share. Revenue will likely be around $12.95 million, according to the consensus estimate. MBIA reported a loss of $1.25 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $20.00 million.

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

Wall Street analysts who study this company will publish analyst estimates of revenue and EPS. The averages of all analyst EPS and revenue estimates are called the "consensus estimates"; these consensus estimates can have a significant effect on a company's performance during an earnings release. When a company posts earnings or revenue above or below a consensus estimate, it has posted an "earnings surprise", which can really move a stock depending on the difference between actual and estimated values.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Monday, quarterly profit would be up 67.2%. Sales would be down 35.25% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of MBIA were trading at $7.03 as of February 25. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 11.92%. 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. MBIA is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.