New York Mortgage Trust (NASDAQ:NYMT) releases its next round of earnings this Thursday, May 06. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to New York Mortgage Trust's Q1 earnings report. 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

Wall Street analysts see New York Mortgage Trust reporting earnings of $0.12 per share on sales of $37.15 million. New York Mortgage Trust's loss in the same period a year ago was $1.63 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $47.08 million. 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 Thursday, EPS would be up 107.36%. Revenue would have fallen 21.1% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of New York Mortgage Trust were trading at $4.55 as of May 04. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 128.64%. 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. New York Mortgage Trust is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.