Earnings Preview: Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories ABT announces its next round of earnings this Thursday, July 22. 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

Abbott Laboratories EPS is expected to be around $1.02, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $9.69 billion. In the same quarter last year, Abbott Laboratories reported earnings per share of $0.57 on revenue of $7.33 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 analyst consensus estimate would represent a 78.95% increase in the company's EPS figure. Sales would be up 32.23% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Want Real-Time Earnings Calendar Updates?

Benzinga consistently updates its earnings calendars to stay up-to-date with the latest company earnings reports. Check out the full earnings calendar list updated in real-time by following this link.

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 17.29%. 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. Abbott Laboratories is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.