Walmart Earnings Preview

Walmart WMT announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, November 17. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q3 earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

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

Walmart earnings will be near $1.18 per share on sales of $132.23 billion, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Walmart announced EPS of $1.16 on revenue of $127.99 billion.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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 analyst consensus estimate would represent a 1.72% increase in the company's earnings. Sales would be up 3.31% from the year-ago period. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart were trading at $150.63 as of November 13. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 26.22%. 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. Walmart is scheduled to hold the call at 07:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.