Earnings Outlook For Schnitzer Steel Indus

On Thursday, January 07, Schnitzer Steel Indus SCHN will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

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

Wall Street analysts see Schnitzer Steel Indus reporting earnings of $0.39 per share on revenue of $437.65 million. Schnitzer Steel Indus's loss in the same period a year ago was $0.17 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $405.58 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.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 329.41% increase for the company. Revenue would be have grown 7.91% from the same quarter last year. 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 77.97%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be content going into this earnings release.

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