Arthur J. Gallagher's Earnings Outlook

Arthur J. Gallagher AJG releases its next round of earnings this Thursday, April 29. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company'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

Wall Street expects EPS of $1.84 and sales around $1.71 billion. In the same quarter last year, Arthur J. Gallagher reported EPS of $1.83 on revenue of $1.83 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 analyst consensus estimate would represent a 0.55% increase in the company's earnings. Revenue would be down 6.51% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 76.73%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Arthur J. Gallagher is scheduled to hold the call at 17:15:00 ET and can be accessed here.