Novartis Q3 Earnings Preview

Don't be caught off-guard: Novartis AG NVS releases its next round of earnings this Thursday, Oct. 18.

Want to skip the homework and get all the facts in one place? We thought so. Here is your everything-that-matters guide for the Q3 earnings announcement before the bell.

Earnings and Revenue

Novartis AG earnings will be near $1.31 per share on sales of $12.96 billion, according to analysts.

In the same quarter last year, Novartis reported earnings per share of $1.29 on sales of $12.41 billion. If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Thursday, earnings would be up 1.55 percent. Sales would be have grown 4.41 percent from the same quarter last year. Here's how the Novartis' reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 0.48 percent. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release. Over the past 90 days, analysts have generally adjusted their estimates higher for EPS and revenues. The average rating by analysts on Novartis stock is a Sell. The validity of this rating has dwindled over the past 90 days.

Conference Call

Novartis' Q3 conference call is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. ET and can be accessed here: https://www.novartis.com/investors/event-calendar#ui-id-6=0