Earnings Preview: Archer Daniels Midland Company's EPS, Revenue Expected to Rise

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) releases its next round of earnings this Tuesday, November 1, 2011. Here's Benzinga's essential guide to Archer Daniels Midland Company's first quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue:

Wall Street expects an EPS of 69 cents/share and revenues of $18.93 billion. Archer Daniels Midland Company's latest numbers will no doubt be compared with the company's year-ago quarter, when it reported a profit of 54 cents/share on revenues of $16.8 billion. Can the company manage the estimated 27.8% rise in EPS and 12.7% increase in revenues from the year-ago quarter as analysts are predicting? We'll have to wait until Tuesday to find out.

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

Stock Performance:

Shares of Archer Daniels Midland Company were trading at $28.90 as of October 26, 2011. Shares are down 2.5% year to date. For a full 12 months, the return has declined by 12.2%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.

• Long-term shareholders are already wary of 12-month losses prior to the announcement

Average Stock Rating:

The average rating by analysts is a Hold. This rating has strengthened slightly over the past ninety days.

Competitors:

Wondering how some of the other consumer staples companies are doing? Here are a few of Archer Daniels Midland Company's peers in that sector.

• Bunge (NYSE: BG): Moderate Buy with a $1.78 recent quarter EPS
• Corn Products International (NYSE: CPO): Moderate Buy with a $1.10 recent quarter EPS
• General Mills (NYSE: GIS): Moderate Buy with a $0.64 recent quarter EPS

Archer Daniels Midland Company is in the agriculture/products industry, which has experienced price/earnings growth of 1.4%.

Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: Archer Daniels Midland processes feedstuffs including oilseeds, cocoa, corn, and wheat. The company also manufactures vegetable oil and protein meal, corn sweeteners, flour, ethanol, biodiesel, and other food and feed ingredients.

Take Action:

There is your peek into Archer Daniels Midland Company'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. In the meantime, here are some links to explore today.

• To see up-to-date news on Archer Daniels Midland Company, click here
• To see other trading ideas, click here
• To see other company earnings recaps, click here