For the quarter ended March 2025, Compass Minerals (CMP) reported revenue of $494.6 million, up 35.9% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $0.63, compared to $1.49 in the year-ago quarter.

The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $413.88 million, representing a surprise of +19.50%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of +61.54%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $0.39.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers — revenue and earnings — and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.

Here is how Compass performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

• Average Sales Price per ton – Plant Nutrition: $626.02 versus the two-analyst average estimate of $608.85.

• Sales volumes – Total Salt: 5,105 KTon versus 4,150.78 KTon estimated by two analysts on average.

• Average Sales Price per ton – Total Salt: $84.76 versus $87.42 estimated by two analysts on average.

• Sales volumes – Plant Nutrition: 93 KTon versus the two-analyst average estimate of 76 KTon.

• Sales to external customers- Salt: $432.70 million versus $362.42 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +39.4% change.

• Sales to external customers- Plant Nutrition: $58.30 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of $46.26 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +16.4%.

• Sales to external customers- Corporate & Other: $3.60 million compared to the $3.55 million average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of +2.9% year over year.

• Operating earnings- Plant Nutrition: -$1.80 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of -$3.66 million.

• Operating earnings- Corporate and Other: -$68.20 million versus -$16.50 million estimated by two analysts on average.

• Operating earnings- Salt: $66.90 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of $63.52 million.

View all Key Company Metrics for Compass here>>>Shares of Compass have returned +48.7% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +10.6% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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Compass Minerals International, Inc. (CMP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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