Principal Financial Group's Earnings Outlook

Principal Financial Group PFG announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, April 27. Here is Benzinga's look at Principal Financial Group'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

Principal Financial Group EPS is expected to be around $1.34, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $3.87 billion. Principal Financial Group EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $1.15. Sales were $4.43 billion.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Tuesday, earnings would be up 16.52%. Revenue would be down 12.64% from the same quarter last year. Principal Financial Group's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Principal Financial Group were trading at $62.71 as of April 23. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 89.11%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Principal Financial Group is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.