ConocoPhillips's Earnings Outlook

On Tuesday, February 02, ConocoPhillips COP will report its last quarter's earnings. Here is Benzinga's preview of the company's release.

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

Wall Street analysts see ConocoPhillips reporting a loss of $0.28 per share on revenue of $5.13 billion. ConocoPhillips earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.76 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $8.14 billion.

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

Wall Street analysts who study this company will publish analyst estimates of revenue and EPS. The averages of all analyst EPS and revenue estimates are called the "consensus estimates"; these consensus estimates can have a significant effect on a company's performance during an earnings release. When a company posts earnings or revenue above or below a consensus estimate, it has posted an "earnings surprise", which can really move a stock depending on the difference between actual and estimated values.

If the company were to post earnings in line with the consensus estimate when it reports Tuesday, EPS would be down 136.84%. Sales would be down 36.98% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips were trading at $40 as of January 29. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 29.51%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. ConocoPhillips is scheduled to hold the call at 12:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.