Benzinga | Jul 20, 2021 10:38AM EDT

Earnings Preview: CSX

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, July 21. Here is Benzinga's look at CSX's Q2 earnings 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

Wall Street expects EPS of $0.37 and sales around $2.92 billion. In the same quarter last year, CSX reported EPS of $0.65 on revenue of $2.25 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 Wednesday, earnings would be down 43.08%. Sales would be up 29.49% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past: Quarter Q1 2021 Q4 2020 Q3 2020 Q2 2020EPS Estimate 0.95 1 0.92 0.64EPS Actual 0.93 1.04 0.96 0.65Revenue Estimate 2.78 B 2.77 B 2.68 B 2.30 BRevenue Actual 2.81 B 2.83 B 2.65 B 2.25 B

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares of CSX are up 27.25%.

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