Airgas Third Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Airgas, Inc. (NYSE:ARG) will unveil its latest earnings tomorrow, Thursday, January 24, 2013. Airgas, through its subsidiaries, distributes industrial, medical, and specialty gases and hardgoods in the United States. It offers a range of gases, including nitrogen and helium, as well as welding and fuel gases. .

Airgas, Inc. Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for profit of $1.08 per share, a rise of 11.3% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $1.15. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at $1.08 during the last month. For the year, analysts are projecting net income of $4.55 per share, a rise of 10.7% from last year.

Past Earnings Performance: The company is looking to top analyst estimates this quarter after trailing for the two previous quarters. Last quarter, it missed estimates by reporting profit of $1.05 per share against an estimate of net income of $1.06 per share. The quarter before that, it missed expectations by 2 cents.

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A Look Back: In the second quarter, profit rose 4.3% to $81 million ($1.03 a share) from $77.7 million ($1.01 a share) the year earlier, but fell short analyst expectations. Revenue rose 3.6% to $1.23 billion from $1.19 billion.

Here’s how Airgas traded following its last earnings report 3 months ago and leading up to its upcoming earnings report this week: