Prudential Financial Inc. Earnings: Profit Rises for Second Straight Quarter

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE:PRU) reported its results for the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial offers a wide range of financial products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services.

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Prudential Financial Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Fourth Quarter

Results: Net income for Prudential Financial Inc. rose to $686 million ($1.26 per share) vs. $177 million (45 cents per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This is a more than threefold rise from the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Revenue was $10.26 billion last quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Prudential Financial Inc. reported adjusted net income of $1.97 per share, but this measure the company beat the mean analyst estimate of $1.76 per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $10.2 billion.

Quoting Management: “Our results for the fourth quarter and year were strong and reflect the business momentum we continue to build. Sustained commitment to our selected markets and our financial strength are driving our enhanced competitive position. We focus on maintaining a mix of businesses that have solid financial prospects in a variety of market conditions,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Strangfeld.

Key Stats:

The company has now fallen short of estimates in the last two quarters. In the third quarter, it missed expectations by 49 cents with net income of $1.07 versus a mean estimate of net income of $1.56 per share.

Net income has increased 37.1% year over year on average across the last five quarters. The biggest gain came in the most recent quarter, when income climbed more than threefold from the year earlier quarter.

Looking Forward: The outlook for the company’s results in the upcoming quarter is unfavorable. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year is $1.66 per share, down from $1.71 ninety days ago. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved down from $6.35 a share to $6.25 over the last ninety days.

(Company fundamentals provided 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