Earnings Preview: Praxair EPS, Revenue Expected to Rise from Previous Quarter - Air Products & Chemicals (NYSE:APD)

Praxair PX unveils its next round of earnings this Wednesday, July 27, 2011. Here's Benzinga's essential guide to Praxair's second quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue:

Ahead of the company's earnings announcement, analysts are expecting a positive EPS reading of $1.37 per share and revenues of $2.79 billion. Whether the reported numbers beat or miss analysts' estimates, they will also be compared against last year's numbers for the same period, which were a profit of $1.19 per share on revenues of $2.53 billion. We'll know on Wednesday whether Praxair has managed the estimated 15.1% increase in EPS and 10.3% rise in revenues on a year-over-year basis.

Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
EPS Estimate	$1.27	$1.23	$1.20	$1.14
EPS Actual	$1.29	$1.25	$1.21	$1.19

Stock Performance:

At last check, shares of Praxair were trading at $107.19. Since January 1st, shares of Praxair have given investors a return of 13.4%.

Average Stock Rating:

The average rating by analysts for Praxair is a Moderate Buy. This rating has strengthened slightly over the past ninety days.

Competitors:

Looking for a sympathy stock to trade or interested in the performance of other companies in the same sector? Take a look at some of Praxair's peers.

Air Products and Chemicals (APD): Moderate Buy with a $1.41 recent quarter EPS
Airgas (ARG): Moderate Buy with a $0.88 recent quarter EPS

Praxair is in the chemicals-diversified industry, which has experienced price/earnings growth of 1.2%.

Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: Praxair Inc. produces and sells atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings to industrial clients.

Take Action:

There is your peek into Praxair's upcoming earnings numbers, including some competitors to watch around the time of the announcement. Check back in with us after the announcement for a full recap of the announcement. In the meantime, here are some links to explore today.

To see up-to-date news on Praxair, click here
To see other trading ideas, click here
To see other company earnings recaps, click here

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs