Accenture Earnings Preview

Accenture ACN announces its next round of earnings this Thursday, June 24. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Thursday's Q3 earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, 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

Based on Accenture management projections, analysts predict EPS of $2.24 on revenue of $12.77 billion. In the same quarter last year, Accenture reported earnings per share of $1.9 on revenue of $10.99 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 a 17.89% increase for the company. Sales would be have grown 16.19% 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 Accenture were trading at $285.66 as of June 22. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 32.24%. 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. Accenture is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.