Benzinga | Mar 2, 2021 10:08AM EST

Dollar Tree's Earnings: A Preview

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, March 03. Here is Benzinga's look at Dollar Tree's Q4 earnings report.

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

Dollar Tree EPS is expected to be around $2.11, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $6.79 billion. In the same quarter last year, Dollar Tree announced EPS of $1.79 on revenue of $6.32 billion.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Wednesday, EPS would be up 17.88%. Sales would be up 7.52% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate 1.15 0.92 0.91 1.75EPS Actual 1.39 1.10 1.04 1.79Revenue Estimate 6.12 B 6.22 B 6.11 B 6.39 BRevenue Actual 6.18 B 6.28 B 6.29 B 6.32 B

Stock Performance

Shares of Dollar Tree were trading at $99.23 as of March 01. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 25.05%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably happy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Dollar Tree is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.