Benzinga | Oct 23, 2020 10:10AM EDT

Covenant Logistics Group's Earnings: A Preview

On Monday, October 26, Covenant Logistics Group (NASDAQ: CVLG) will release its latest earnings report. Decipher the announcement with Benzinga's help.

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

Analysts predict Covenant Logistics Group will report earnings of $0.54 per share on revenue of $209.55 million. In the same quarter last year, Covenant Logistics Group posted EPS of $0.08 on sales of $222.91 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.

If the company were to post earnings in line with the consensus estimate when it reports Monday, EPS would be up 775.0%. Sales would be down 6.0% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020 Q3 2019EPS Estimate -0.01 -0.10 0.14 0.21EPS Actual 0.03 -0.09 0.10 -0.08Revenue Estimate 178.90 M 199.27 M 231.10 M 212.70 MRevenue Actual 191.69 M 213.55 M 233.13 M 222.91 M

Stock Performance

Shares of Covenant Logistics Group were trading at $17.71 as of October 22. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 5.38%. 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. Covenant Logistics Group is scheduled to hold the call at 11:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.