Free Annual Reports
Covidien Fourth Quarter Earnings Preview
Tickers in this Article »
COV
Covidien (NYSE:COV) will release its fourth quarter results on Friday, November 9, 2012. Analysts are expecting earnings per share of $1 after the company booked a profit of only $1.08 a share a year earlier.
Earnings play an important role in measuring the appropriate valuation for a stock. Investors should be cautious if the company's stock price is high but it consistently has low earnings. SEE: 12 Things You Need To Know About Financial Statements
What to Expect: Covidien is expected to report earnings of $1 per share, down 7.4% from a year ago, when the company reported earnings of $1.08 per share.
While down from $1.02 three months ago, the consensus estimate has remained unchanged over the past 30 days. For the fiscal year, analysts are expecting earnings of $4.24 per share.
Covidien's expected revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter is below last year's reported figure of $3.08 billion by 3.2%. Revenue of $11.83 billion is expected for the fiscal year.
Company Performance: Revenue has risen year-over-year for four consecutive quarters now. It rose 2.8% in the third quarter, 5.2% in the second quarter, 4.7% in the first quarter and 15.3% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.
COV has a P/E ratio of 14.3. The P/E ratio has been used for ages by analysts and still remains one of the most relevant pieces of stock valuation. A high P/E ratio indicates a stock that is expensive, while a low P/E ratio indicates a stock that is cheap. SEE: Can Investors Trust the P/E Ratio?
Since August 8, 2012, the stock price has fallen 2.1% to $55.65 from $56.87. October 16, 2012 to October 25, 2012 marked one of Covidien's worst periods, as the share price fell $3.68.
The Competition: Covidien is engaged in the development, manufacture, and sale of healthcare products for use in clinical and home settings. It operates its businesses through three segments: medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies. The majority of analysts (15 of 17) rate Covidien a buy. This marks a small improvement, as the number of buy ratings has risen slightly over the past three months.
The company's closest competitor in the medical equipment and supplies industry is Baxter (BAX). Analysts are more optimistic about Covidien than about Baxter. Only 12 out of 17 analysts rate the latter a buy.
Earnings play an important role in measuring the appropriate valuation for a stock. Investors should be cautious if the company's stock price is high but it consistently has low earnings. SEE: 12 Things You Need To Know About Financial Statements
What to Expect: Covidien is expected to report earnings of $1 per share, down 7.4% from a year ago, when the company reported earnings of $1.08 per share.
While down from $1.02 three months ago, the consensus estimate has remained unchanged over the past 30 days. For the fiscal year, analysts are expecting earnings of $4.24 per share.
Covidien's expected revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter is below last year's reported figure of $3.08 billion by 3.2%. Revenue of $11.83 billion is expected for the fiscal year.
Company Performance: Revenue has risen year-over-year for four consecutive quarters now. It rose 2.8% in the third quarter, 5.2% in the second quarter, 4.7% in the first quarter and 15.3% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.
Since August 8, 2012, the stock price has fallen 2.1% to $55.65 from $56.87. October 16, 2012 to October 25, 2012 marked one of Covidien's worst periods, as the share price fell $3.68.
The Competition: Covidien is engaged in the development, manufacture, and sale of healthcare products for use in clinical and home settings. It operates its businesses through three segments: medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies. The majority of analysts (15 of 17) rate Covidien a buy. This marks a small improvement, as the number of buy ratings has risen slightly over the past three months.
The company's closest competitor in the medical equipment and supplies industry is Baxter (BAX). Analysts are more optimistic about Covidien than about Baxter. Only 12 out of 17 analysts rate the latter a buy.
by
Investopedia Staff
Investopedia.com believes that individuals can excel at managing their financial affairs. As such, we strive to provide free educational content and tools to empower individual investors, including thousands of original and objective articles and tutorials on a wide variety of financial topics.
Free Annual Reports
