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Altria Group Third Quarter Earnings Preview
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MO
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) will announce its third quarter earnings on Thursday, October 25, 2012.
Earnings are perhaps the single most studied number in a company's financial statements because they show a company's profitability. SEE: How To Decode A Company's Earnings Reports
What to Expect: The consensus estimate for Altria's earnings is 58 cents per share, up 3.6% from a year ago when the company reported earnings of 56 cents per share.
The consensus estimate is down from 60 cents three months ago, but it hasn't changed in the last month. For the fiscal year, analysts are expecting earnings of $2.21 per share.
Altria is expected to beat last year's reported revenue of $4.33 billion and come in at $4.36 billion for the quarter. For the fiscal year, expected revenue is $17.34 billion.
Company Performance: For the past three quarters, revenue has been increasing. It rose 62.1% to $6.49 billion in second quarter. Prior to that, the figure rose 1.3% in the first quarter and 5% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.
The company has been profitable for the last eight quarters; profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 43.6% over the most recent four quarters.
MO's P/E ratio of 15.8 is above the industry average of 11.79. Generally speaking, the higher the P/E ratio, the higher the market expectations for a company's future performance. Price/earnings ratios (P/E ratios) provide a measure of the relative value of a stock. A high or low P/E ratio is not good or bad in and of itself, but a company trading with a high P/E ratio must continue to post strong financial performance or its stock price is likely to fall. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Earnings Ratio
The stock price has fallen 8.3% to $32.63 from $35.57 since July 24, 2012. Altria's worst recent stretch was when its stock price fell $1.96 per share between August 17, 2012 and August 23, 2012.
The Competition: Altria Group manufactures and sells cigarettes and tobacco products as well as maintaining a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases. Analysts generally consider Altria a hold, with seven of 13 analysts rating it as such. Buy ratings have increased slightly over the last three months.
The company's closest competitor in the tobacco industry is Philip Morris (PM). Analysts are less optimistic about Altria than about Philip Morris. Ten out of 13 analysts rate the latter a buy compared to six of 13 for the former.
Earnings are perhaps the single most studied number in a company's financial statements because they show a company's profitability. SEE: How To Decode A Company's Earnings Reports
What to Expect: The consensus estimate for Altria's earnings is 58 cents per share, up 3.6% from a year ago when the company reported earnings of 56 cents per share.
The consensus estimate is down from 60 cents three months ago, but it hasn't changed in the last month. For the fiscal year, analysts are expecting earnings of $2.21 per share.
Altria is expected to beat last year's reported revenue of $4.33 billion and come in at $4.36 billion for the quarter. For the fiscal year, expected revenue is $17.34 billion.
Company Performance: For the past three quarters, revenue has been increasing. It rose 62.1% to $6.49 billion in second quarter. Prior to that, the figure rose 1.3% in the first quarter and 5% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.
MO's P/E ratio of 15.8 is above the industry average of 11.79. Generally speaking, the higher the P/E ratio, the higher the market expectations for a company's future performance. Price/earnings ratios (P/E ratios) provide a measure of the relative value of a stock. A high or low P/E ratio is not good or bad in and of itself, but a company trading with a high P/E ratio must continue to post strong financial performance or its stock price is likely to fall. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Price/Earnings Ratio
The stock price has fallen 8.3% to $32.63 from $35.57 since July 24, 2012. Altria's worst recent stretch was when its stock price fell $1.96 per share between August 17, 2012 and August 23, 2012.
The Competition: Altria Group manufactures and sells cigarettes and tobacco products as well as maintaining a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases. Analysts generally consider Altria a hold, with seven of 13 analysts rating it as such. Buy ratings have increased slightly over the last three months.
The company's closest competitor in the tobacco industry is Philip Morris (PM). Analysts are less optimistic about Altria than about Philip Morris. Ten out of 13 analysts rate the latter a buy compared to six of 13 for the former.
by
Investopedia Staff
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