Earnings Preview for Huron Consulting Group

Huron Consulting Group HURN announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, February 23. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q4 earnings announcement.

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

Wall Street analysts see Huron Consulting Group reporting earnings of $0.35 per share on revenue of $199.79 million. Huron Consulting Group earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.79 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $232.27 million.

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 report earnings in line when it publishes results Tuesday, earnings would be down 55.7%. Revenue would be down 13.98% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Huron Consulting Group were trading at $58.36 as of February 19. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 5.66%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably upset going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Huron Consulting Group is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.