Benzinga | Jul 19, 2021 10:28AM EDT

Preview: Intuitive Surgical's Earnings

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, July 20. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q2 earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, 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

Based on management's projections, Intuitive Surgical analysts model for earnings of $3.06 per share on sales of $1.26 billion. Intuitive Surgical EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $1.11. Sales were $852.10 million.

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 175.68% increase in the company's earnings. Sales would be up 47.87% on a year-over-year basis. Intuitive Surgical's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this: Quarter Q1 2021 Q4 2020 Q3 2020 Q2 2020EPS Estimate 2.63 3.12 2.07 0.74EPS Actual 3.52 3.58 2.77 1.11Revenue Estimate 1.11 B 1.24 B 970.97 M 668.55 MRevenue Actual 1.29 B 1.33 B 1.08 B 852.10 M

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 42.18%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can relax going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

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