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Unsurprisingly, Hudbay Minerals Inc.'s (TSE:HBM) stock price was strong on the back of its healthy earnings report. We did some analysis and think that investors are missing some details hidden beneath the profit numbers.
In order to understand the potential for per share returns, it is essential to consider how much a company is diluting shareholders. Hudbay Minerals expanded the number of shares on issue by 13% over the last year. Therefore, each share now receives a smaller portion of profit. To talk about net income, without noticing earnings per share, is to be distracted by the big numbers while ignoring the smaller numbers that talk to per share value. Check out Hudbay Minerals' historical EPS growth by clicking on this link.
How Is Dilution Impacting Hudbay Minerals' Earnings Per Share (EPS)?
Hudbay Minerals was losing money three years ago. On the bright side, in the last twelve months it grew profit by 86%. But EPS was less impressive, up only 60% in that time. And so, you can see quite clearly that dilution is influencing shareholder earnings.
Changes in the share price do tend to reflect changes in earnings per share, in the long run. So Hudbay Minerals shareholders will want to see that EPS figure continue to increase. But on the other hand, we'd be far less excited to learn profit (but not EPS) was improving. For the ordinary retail shareholder, EPS is a great measure to check your hypothetical "share" of the company's profit.
That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.
Our Take On Hudbay Minerals' Profit Performance
Hudbay Minerals shareholders should keep in mind how many new shares it is issuing, because, dilution clearly has the power to severely impact shareholder returns. Because of this, we think that it may be that Hudbay Minerals' statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. The good news is that, its earnings per share increased by 60% in the last year. At the end of the day, it's essential to consider more than just the factors above, if you want to understand the company properly. Obviously, we love to consider the historical data to inform our opinion of a company. But it can be really valuable to consider what other analysts are forecasting. Luckily, you can check out what analysts are forecasting by clicking here.