S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component McKesson Corp (NYSE:MCK) will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, January 30, 2012. McKesson delivers cost-reducing medicines, pharmaceutical supplies, information, and care management products and services.

McKesson Corp Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for net income of $1.37 per share, a rise of 22.3% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $1.52. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It also has dropped from $1.38 during the last month. For the year, analysts are projecting profit of $6.33 per share, a rise of 29.2% from last year.

Past Earnings Performance: Last quarter, the company beat estimates by 25 cents, coming in at net income of $1.63 a share versus the estimate of profit of $1.38 a share. It marked the fourth straight quarter of beating estimates.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $30.13 billion in revenue this quarter, a rise of 6.7% from the year ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $120.43 billion for the year, a rise of 7.5% from last year’s revenue of $112.08 billion.

Analyst Ratings: Analysts are bullish on this stock with 13 analysts rating it as a buy, none rating it as a sell and four rating it as a hold.

A Look Back: In the second quarter, profit fell 9.5% to $296 million ($1.18 a share) from $327 million ($1.25 a share) the year earlier, but exceeded analyst expectations. Revenue rose 9.7% to $30.22 billion from $27.53 billion.

Key Stats:

The company has seen net income fall in each of the last two quarters. Net income dropped 4% in the first quarter.

Revenue has gone up for three straight quarters. It rose 9.2% in the first quarter from the year earlier and 8.3% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

Competitors to Watch: AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE:ABC), Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH), Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC), Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO), Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN), Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI), Omnicare, Inc. (NYSE:OCR), Grupo Casa Saba, S.A. (NYSE:SAB), MWI Veterinary Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:MWIV), and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX).

Stock Price Performance: During October 26, 2011 to January 24, 2012, the stock price had fallen $4.99 (-6.1%) from $81.54 to $76.55. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between April 18, 2011 and April 27, 2011 when shares rose for seven-straight days, rising 5.4% (+$4.28) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between November 15, 2011 and November 25, 2011 when shares fell for eight-straight days, falling 7.8% (-$6.46) over that span.

(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Hoffman at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

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