Benzinga | Feb 15, 2021 10:28AM EST

Zoetis Earnings Preview

On Tuesday, February 16, Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) 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 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

Zoetis EPS will likely be near $0.87 while revenue will be around $1.73 billion, according to analysts. Zoetis earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.92 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $1.67 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 Wall Street estimate would represent a 5.43% decline in the company's earnings. Revenue would be up 3.35% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate 0.91 0.64 0.86 0.88EPS Actual 1.10 0.89 0.95 0.92Revenue Estimate 1.63 B 1.35 B 1.50 B 1.64 BRevenue Actual 1.79 B 1.55 B 1.53 B 1.67 B

Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis were trading at $164.5 as of February 11. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 16.05%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Zoetis is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.