S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE:NOV) will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, February 2, 2012. National Oilwell Varco provides equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling and production operations, oilfield services, and supply chain integration services.

National Oilwell Varco, Inc. Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for net income of $1.30 per share, a rise of 23.8% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved up from $1.28. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved up. It has risen from $1.29 during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 14.7% versus last year to $4.69.

Past Earnings Performance: The company is looking to beat analyst estimates for the third quarter in a row. Last quarter, it beat estimates with profit of $1.26 per share against the mean estimate of $1.17. In the prior quarter, the company reported net income of $1.14.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts are projecting a rise of 27.1% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $4.03 billion.

Analyst Ratings: Analysts are bullish on this stock with 19 analysts rating it as a buy, none rating it as a sell and two rating it as a hold.

A Look Back: In the third quarter, profit rose 31.7% to $532 million ($1.25 a share) from $404 million (96 cents a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue rose 24.2% to $3.74 billion from $3.01 billion.

Key Stats:

Revenue has risen the past four quarters. Revenue rose 19.4% in the second quarter from the year earlier, climbed 3.8% in the first quarter from the year-ago quarter and 1.2% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

The company has now been profitable for the last eight quarters, and for the last four, profit has risen year over year by an average of 14.9%. The quarter with the biggest boost was the most recent quarter, which saw a 31.7% surge.

Competitors to Watch: Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI), Tesco Corporation (NASDAQ:TESO), Cameron Intl. Corp. (NYSE:CAM), T-3 Energy Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTES), Oil States Intl., Inc. (NYSE:OIS), Flotek Industries, Inc. (NYSE:FTK), FMC Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FTI), Lufkin Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUFK), and Schlumberger Limited. (NYSE:SLB).

Stock Price Performance: During December 28, 2011 to January 27, 2012, the stock price had risen $10.57 (15.8%) from $66.83 to $77.40. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between June 24, 2011 and July 7, 2011 when shares rose for nine-straight days, rising 15.5% (+$10.82) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 28, 2011 and August 8, 2011 when shares fell for eight-straight days, falling 25.8% (-$20.92) over that span.

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

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