Benzinga | Mar 10, 2021 10:13AM EST

Chembio Diagnostics's Earnings Outlook

On Thursday, March 11, Chembio Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CEMI) 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

Based on Chembio Diagnostics management projections, analysts predict EPS of $0.28 on revenue of $5.77 million. In the same quarter last year, Chembio Diagnostics reported EPS of $0.23 on revenue of $6.85 million.

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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Thursday, earnings would be down 21.74%. Revenue would be down 15.78% from the same quarter last year. 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 -0.26 -0.39 -0.23 -0.24EPS Actual -0.27 -0.42 -0.25 -0.23Revenue Estimate 3.91 M 6.88 M 7.73 M 8.55 MRevenue Actual 10.27 M 5.11 M 6.86 M 6.85 M

Stock Performance

Shares of Chembio Diagnostics were trading at $4.52 as of March 09. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 69.61%. 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. Chembio Diagnostics is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.