Benzinga | Feb 2, 2021 10:20AM EST

Earnings Preview: Allstate

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) releases its next round of earnings this Wednesday, February 03. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's Q4 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

Based on Allstate management projections, analysts predict EPS of $3.81 on revenue of $8.83 billion. In the same quarter last year, Allstate reported earnings per share of $3.13 on revenue of $9.19 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 Wednesday, EPS would be up 21.73%. Revenue would have fallen 3.92% from the same quarter last year. Allstate's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate 1.66 1.55 3.50 3.24EPS Actual 2.94 2.46 3.54 3.13Revenue Estimate 9.54 B 9.04 B 9.18 B 8.89 BRevenue Actual 9.88 B 9.64 B 8.79 B 9.19 B

Stock Performance

Over the past 52-week period, shares of Allstate have declined 12.0%.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Allstate is scheduled to hold the call at 09:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.