Kansas City Southern's Earnings: A Preview

Kansas City Southern KSU unveils its next round of earnings this Friday, April 16. Get prepared with Benzinga's ultimate preview for Kansas City Southern's Q1 earnings.

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

Kansas City Southern EPS will likely be near $1.94 while revenue will be around $710.89 million, according to analysts. Kansas City Southern earnings in the same period a year ago was $1.96 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $731.70 million.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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.

The Wall Street estimate would represent a 1.02% decline in the company's earnings. Sales would be down 2.84% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 87.05%. 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. Kansas City Southern is scheduled to hold the call at 08:45:00 ET and can be accessed here.