Benzinga | Oct 27, 2020 10:06AM EDT

Earnings Preview: Benchmark Electronics

On Wednesday, October 28, Benchmark Electronics (NYSE: BHE) 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

Analysts expect Benchmark Electronics earnings of $0.28 per share. Revenue will likely be around $511.33 million, according to the consensus estimate. In the same quarter last year, Benchmark Electronics reported EPS of $0.36 on revenue of $555.23 million.

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 22.22% decrease in the company's earnings. Sales would be down 7.91% from the year-ago period. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Quarter Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020 Q3 2019EPS Estimate 0.09 0.16 0.29 0.34EPS Actual 0.07 0.22 0.27 0.36Revenue Estimate 474.33 M 510.00 M 519.33 M 539.55 MRevenue Actual 490.97 M 514.96 M 508.44 M 555.23 M

Stock Performance

Shares of Benchmark Electronics were trading at $20.54 as of October 26. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 40.0%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably upset going into this earnings release.

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