Earnings Outlook For Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan KMI announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, July 21. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Wednesday's Q2 earnings announcement.

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

Based on Kinder Morgan management projections, analysts predict EPS of $0.19 on revenue of $2.88 billion. Kinder Morgan EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.17. Revenue was $2.56 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.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 11.76% increase for the company. Revenue would be up 12.5% from the year-ago period. Kinder Morgan's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Kinder Morgan were trading at $17.18 as of July 19. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 15.72%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably happy going into this earnings release.

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.