Earnings Preview: Archer-Daniels Midland

Archer-Daniels Midland ADM unveils its next round of earnings this Tuesday, January 26. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for the earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and EPS are useful metrics of profitability. Total earnings also known as net income is equal to total revenue minus total expenses. Dividing net income by the total number of shares outstanding yields EPS.

Earnings And Revenue

Archer-Daniels Midland EPS will likely be near $1.1 while revenue will be around $16.48 billion, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Archer-Daniels Midland announced EPS of $1.42 on revenue of $16.33 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 Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 22.54% decrease for the company. Sales would be up 0.92% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Archer-Daniels Midland were trading at $52.855 as of January 22. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 20.86%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Archer-Daniels Midland is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.