Preview: Atmos Energy's Earnings

Atmos Energy ATO announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, November 11. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Wednesday's Q4 earnings announcement.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, And Earnings Per Share?

Earnings and EPS are useful metrics of profitability. Total earnings also known as net income is equal to total revenue minus total expenses. Dividing net income by the total number of shares outstanding yields EPS.

Earnings And Revenue

Atmos Energy earnings will be near $0.51 per share on sales of $603.47 million, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Atmos Energy posted EPS of $0.49 on sales of $443.68 million.

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 company in a quarter yields the "consensus estimates." A company posting earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate is known as an "earnings surprise" and may move the stock by a considerable margin.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 4.08% increase for the company. Revenue would be up 36.01% on a year-over-year basis. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy were trading at $97.8 as of November 09. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 9.38%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably down going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Atmos Energy is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.