Jones Lang LaSalle's Earnings Outlook

Jones Lang LaSalle JLL releases its next round of earnings this Tuesday, February 09. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Jones Lang LaSalle's Q4 earnings report.

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

Based on management's projections, Jones Lang LaSalle analysts model for earnings of $3.93 per share on sales of $1.79 billion. In the same quarter last year, Jones Lang LaSalle posted EPS of $6.35 on sales of $2.38 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 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 estimate would represent a 38.11% decline in the company's earnings. Sales would be down 24.63% from the year-ago period. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Jones Lang LaSalle were trading at $154.18 as of February 05. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 6.6%. 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. Jones Lang LaSalle is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.