Preview: Kimberly-Clark's Earnings

Kimberly-Clark KMB releases its next round of earnings this Friday, April 23. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Kimberly-Clark's Q1 earnings report.

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

Analysts covering Kimberly-Clark modeled for quarterly EPS of $1.92 on revenue of $4.96 billion. In the same quarter last year, Kimberly-Clark reported earnings per share of $2.13 on sales of $5.01 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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Friday, EPS would have fallen 9.86%. Sales would have fallen 0.98% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Related content: Benzinga's Full Earnings Calendar 

Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark were trading at $141.53 as of April 21. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 0.13%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably upset going into this earnings release.

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