Kinder Morgan's Earnings Outlook

Kinder Morgan KMI announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, April 21. Here is Benzinga's look at Kinder Morgan's Q1 earnings report.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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

Wall Street expects EPS of $0.24 and sales around $3.03 billion. Kinder Morgan reported a per-share profit of $0.24 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $3.11 billion.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

Wall Street analysts who study this company will publish analyst estimates of revenue and EPS. The averages of all analyst EPS and revenue estimates are called the "consensus estimates"; these consensus estimates can have a significant effect on a company's performance during an earnings release. When a company posts earnings or revenue above or below a consensus estimate, it has posted an "earnings surprise", which can really move a stock depending on the difference between actual and estimated values.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent no change for the company. Sales would have fallen 2.45% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 12.94%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably relaxed going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Kinder Morgan is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.