Benzinga | Feb 19, 2021 10:40AM EST

Earnings Outlook for Republic Services

On Monday, February 22, Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's outlook for Republic Services is included in the following report.

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

Republic Services EPS is expected to be around $0.81, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $2.57 billion. In the same quarter last year, Republic Services reported earnings per share of $0.91 on sales of $2.58 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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Monday, EPS would have fallen 10.99%. Sales would be down 0.27% 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 0.82 0.59 0.76 0.88EPS Actual 1 0.81 0.77 0.91Revenue Estimate 2.58 B 2.39 B 2.51 B 2.63 BRevenue Actual 2.57 B 2.45 B 2.55 B 2.58 B

Stock Performance

Shares of Republic Services were trading at $91.7 as of February 18. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 7.85%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Republic Services is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.