Cal-Maine Foods' Earnings: A Preview

On Tuesday, January 05, Cal-Maine Foods CALM will release its latest earnings report. Check out Benzinga's preview to understand the implications.

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

Cal-Maine Foods EPS loss is expected to be around $0.05, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $336.12 million. In the same quarter last year, Cal-Maine Foods posted a loss of $0.21 per share on sales of $311.52 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Tuesday, earnings would be up 76.19%. Revenue would be up 7.9% from the same quarter last year. Cal-Maine Foods's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Cal-Maine Foods were trading at $37.54 as of January 01. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 2.14%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Cal-Maine Foods is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.