Abbott Laboratories's Earnings Outlook

Abbott Laboratories ABT announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, October 21. Here is Benzinga's look at Abbott Laboratories's Q3 earnings report.

What Are Earnings, Net Income And Earnings Per Share (EPS)?

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

Abbott Laboratories EPS is expected to be around $0.9, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $8.51 billion. Abbott Laboratories earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.84 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $8.08 billion.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

Analysts who cover this company will publish forward-looking estimates of its revenue and EPS each quarter. Averaging together every EPS and revenue prediction that each analyst makes about a given company yields the "consensus estimates." If the company posts earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate, the stock may move by a considerable margin.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Wednesday, quarterly profit would be up 7.14%. Revenue would be up 5.37% on a year-over-year basis. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories were trading at $108.11 as of October 19. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 34.31%. 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. Abbott Laboratories is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/dyovmkcs