Yahoo Finance 
Yahoo Finance Plus Earnings Preview for Apple
On Thursday, October 29, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.
What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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 Apple reporting earnings of $0.71 per share on sales of $64.16 billion. Apple reported a profit of $3.03 per share when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $64.04 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 Thursday, EPS would have fallen 76.57%. Revenue would be up 0.19% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:
EPS Estimate | 2.04 | 2.26 | 4.54 | 2.83 |
EPS Actual | 2.58 | 2.55 | 4.99 | 3.03 |
Revenue Estimate | 52.25 B | 54.54 B | 88.43 B | 62.99 B |
Revenue Actual | 59.69 B | 58.31 B | 91.82 B | 64.04 B |
Stock Performance
Shares of Apple were trading at $116.6 as of October 27. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 83.05%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.
Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Apple is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.
See more from Benzinga
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
