Benzinga | Jan 25, 2021 10:26AM EST

First Foundation's Earnings: A Preview

First Foundation (NASDAQ:FFWM) unveils its next round of earnings this Tuesday, January 26. Get prepared with Benzinga's ultimate preview for First Foundation's Q4 earnings.

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

First Foundation EPS will likely be near $0.44 while revenue will be around $60.70 million, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, First Foundation reported earnings per share of $0.34 on sales of $54.09 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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Tuesday, earnings would be up 29.41%. Sales would be up 12.23% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate 0.50 0.36 0.29 0.31EPS Actual 0.69 0.40 0.29 0.34Revenue Estimate 65.16 M 56.12 M 54.12 M 49.47 MRevenue Actual 75.26 M 57.42 M 55.54 M 54.09 M

Stock Performance

For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 27.74%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably relaxed going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

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