Benzinga | Feb 17, 2021 10:07AM EST

Earnings Outlook For Alliant Energy

On Thursday, February 18, Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's report can help you figure out the ins and outs of the earnings release.

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

Analysts expect Alliant Energy earnings of $0.23 per share. Revenue will likely be around $1.12 billion, according to the consensus estimate. In the same quarter last year, Alliant Energy reported EPS of $0.44 on revenue of $880.10 million.

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, earnings would be down 47.73%. Revenue would be up 27.26% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate 0.90 0.46 0.54 0.43EPS Actual 0.94 0.54 0.72 0.44Revenue Estimate 974.23 M 806.48 M 1.02 B 938.16 MRevenue Actual 920.00 M 763.10 M 915.70 M 880.10 M

Stock Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy were trading at $47.82 as of February 16. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 19.31%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably upset going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Alliant Energy is scheduled to hold the call at 13:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.