Benzinga | Oct 21, 2020 10:17AM EDT

Earnings Preview: M&T Bank

On Thursday, October 22, M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) will release its latest earnings report. Here is Benzinga's outlook for the company.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, And Earnings Per Share?

Earnings and 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 equates to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Based on management's projections, M&T Bank analysts model for earnings of $2.6 per share on sales of $1.46 billion. M&T Bank EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $3.5. Sales were $1.56 billion.

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 analyst consensus estimate would represent a 25.71% decline in the company's EPS figure. Sales would be down 6.29% from the year-ago period. M&T Bank's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Quarter Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020 Q3 2019EPS Estimate 1.59 2.47 3.47 3.57EPS Actual 1.76 1.95 3.62 3.50Revenue Estimate 1.47 B 1.48 B 1.52 B 1.53 BRevenue Actual 1.44 B 1.51 B 1.53 B 1.56 B

Stock Performance

Shares of M&T Bank were trading at $99.45 as of October 20. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 36.09%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably upset going into this earnings release.