Earnings Outlook For Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group ALK announces its next round of earnings this Thursday, July 22. Here is Benzinga's look at Alaska Air Group's Q2 earnings report.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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 are expecting Alaska Air Group's loss per share to be near $0.73 on sales of $1.50 billion. In the same quarter last year, Alaska Air Group posted EPS of $3.54 on sales of $421.00 million.

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.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 79.38% increase for the company. Sales would be have grown 256.29% from the same quarter last year. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Want Real-Time Earnings Calendar Updates?

Benzinga consistently updates its earnings calendars to stay up-to-date with the latest company earnings reports. Check out the full earnings calendar list updated in real-time by following this link.

Stock Performance

Shares of Alaska Air Group were trading at $55.48 as of July 20. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 55.11%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably happy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Alaska Air Group is scheduled to hold the call at 11:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.