Cintas's Earnings: A Preview

On Wednesday, March 17, Cintas CTAS will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

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 expects EPS of $2.19 and sales around $1.75 billion. In the same quarter last year, Cintas reported EPS of $2.16 on revenue of $1.81 billion.

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 Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 1.39% increase for the company. Sales would have fallen 3.37% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the Cintas's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Cintas were trading at $351.6 as of March 15. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 95.89%. 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. Cintas is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.