Earnings preview for Ameriprise Financial (AMP)

Ameriprise Financial AMP is presenting its Q1 earnings results on Monday. Analysts will be expecting earnings per share to reach $1.33, significantly up from $0.81 a year ago. Revenues are projected to stand at $2.7bn. Ameriprise Financial provides financial planning, and products and services. It is the successor to American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA), a former subsidiary of the American Express Company. In 2005, American Express spun off AEFA as an independent company. Its new name came into effect on August 1, 2005. The company operates in five segments: Advice & Wealth Management, Asset Management, Annuities, Protection and Corporate & Other. On April 30, 2010, it acquired the long-term asset management business of the Columbia Management Group from Bank of America BAC. Ameriprise's shares rose 4.5% in the last three months and have surged over 21% in the past six months. If its shares are to maintain a strong momentum, investors will be hoping that the actual EPS results do not fall below analysts' expectations once again. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for Q4 2010, missing the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.31 EPS by $0.10. Ameriprise's shares lost 7% on the day its EPS results failed to meet expectations.