Preview: Bed Bath & Beyond's Earnings

Bed Bath & Beyond BBBY unveils its next round of earnings this Wednesday, April 14. Get prepared with Benzinga's ultimate preview for Bed Bath & Beyond's Q4 earnings.

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

Bed Bath & Beyond EPS is expected to be around $0.31, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $2.62 billion. Bed Bath & Beyond reported a profit of $0.38 per share when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $3.11 billion.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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 report earnings in line when it publishes results Wednesday, earnings would be down 18.42%. Revenue would be down 15.67% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the Bed Bath & Beyond's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond were trading at $29.5 as of April 12. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 554.28%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Bed Bath & Beyond is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.