Earnings Preview: Ally Financial

Ally Financial ALLY releases its next round of earnings this Friday, April 16. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Ally Financial's Q1 earnings report.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Sell-side analysts expect Ally Financial's EPS to be near $1.15 on sales of $1.74 billion. Ally Financial's loss in the same period a year ago was $0.44 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $1.61 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.

If the company were to post earnings in line with the consensus estimate when it reports Friday, EPS would be up 361.36%. Revenue would be up 8.34% from the year-ago period. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 206.93%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can relax going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Ally Financial is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.