Earnings Preview for American Electric Power

American Electric Power AEP will be releasing its next round of earnings this Thursday, April 22. For all of the relevant information, here is your guide for Thursday's Q1 earnings announcement.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, 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

Analysts covering American Electric Power modeled for quarterly EPS of $1.16 on revenue of $4.14 billion. American Electric Power reported a per-share profit of $1.02 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $3.70 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 estimate would represent a 13.73% increase in the company's earnings. Sales would be have grown 11.89% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of American Electric Power were trading at $90.14 as of April 20. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 7.87%. 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. American Electric Power is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.