Benzinga | Oct 28, 2020 10:06AM EDT

A Preview Of Altice USA's Earnings

On Thursday, October 29, Altice USA (NYSE: ATUS) will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

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 Altice USA reporting earnings of $0.23 per share on revenue of $2.48 billion. In the same quarter last year, Altice USA announced EPS of $0.12 on revenue of $2.44 billion.

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 analyst consensus estimate would represent a 91.67% increase in the company's EPS figure. Revenue would be up 1.68% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020 Q3 2019EPS Estimate 0.15 0.11 0.17 0.15EPS Actual 0.19 0 0.14 0.12Revenue Estimate 2.44 B 2.46 B 2.51 B 2.48 BRevenue Actual 2.48 B 2.45 B 2.47 B 2.44 B

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 14.31%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders won't be happy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Altice USA is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.