Benzinga | Nov 23, 2020 10:33AM EST

Dollar Tree's Earnings: A Preview

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, November 24. Here is Benzinga's look at Dollar Tree's Q3 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 earnings will be near $1.15 per share on sales of $6.12 billion, according to analysts. Dollar Tree EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $1.08. Sales were $5.75 billion.

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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Tuesday, earnings would be up 6.48%. Sales would be up 6.51% 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 0.92 0.91 1.75 1.13EPS Actual 1.10 1.04 1.79 1.08Revenue Estimate 6.22 B 6.11 B 6.39 B 5.74 BRevenue Actual 6.28 B 6.29 B 6.32 B 5.75 B

Stock Performance

Shares of Dollar Tree were trading at $94.97 as of November 20. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 1.28%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be satisfied 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.