Benzinga | Jan 26, 2021 10:13AM EST

Earnings Outlook for Hess

Hess (NYSE:HES) unveils its next round of earnings this Wednesday, January 27. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for the earnings announcement.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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

Based on Hess management projections, analysts predict EPS of $0.66 on revenue of $1.19 billion. Hess's loss in the same period a year ago was $0.6 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $1.70 billion.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 10.0% decline in the company's EPS figure. Sales would have fallen 29.96% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate -0.56 -1.06 -0.61 -0.39EPS Actual -0.71 -1.05 -0.60 -0.60Revenue Estimate 1.16 B 1.02 B 1.40 B 1.49 BRevenue Actual 1.18 B 842.00 M 1.37 B 1.70 B

Stock Performance

Shares of Hess were trading at $58.03 as of January 25. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 3.74%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Hess is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.