Earnings Preview for UniFirst

On Wednesday, March 31, UniFirst UNF will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's report can help you figure out the ins and outs of the earnings 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

Based on management's projections, UniFirst analysts model for earnings of $1.67 per share on sales of $446.41 million. In the same quarter last year, UniFirst reported EPS of $1.82 on revenue of $464.60 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, earnings would be down 8.24%. Revenue would have fallen 3.92% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of UniFirst were trading at $223.16 as of March 29. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 58.24%. 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. UniFirst is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.