Accenture's Earnings Outlook

Accenture ACN announces its next round of earnings this Thursday, March 18. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Thursday's Q2 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

Sell-side analysts expect Accenture's EPS to be near $1.9 on sales of $11.83 billion. In the same quarter last year, Accenture reported EPS of $1.91 on revenue of $11.14 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.

If the company were to post earnings in line with the consensus estimate when it reports Thursday, EPS would be down 0.52%. Sales would be have grown 6.17% from the same quarter last year. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 65.91%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Accenture is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.