Earnings Preview: Cardinal Health

On Thursday, May 06, Cardinal Health CAH will release its latest earnings report. Here is Benzinga's outlook for the company.

Net Income, Earnings, 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

Analysts predict Cardinal Health will report earnings of $1.55 per share on revenue of $40.09 billion. Cardinal Health earnings in the same period a year ago was $1.62 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $39.16 billion.

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

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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Thursday, EPS would have fallen 4.32%. Revenue would be up 2.38% 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 Cardinal Health were trading at $62.11 as of May 04. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 22.71%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Cardinal Health is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.