Dow Chemical Fourth Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) will unveil its latest earnings tomorrow, Thursday, January 31, 2013. Dow Chemical produces chemicals, plastic materials, agricultural, advanced materials, and other products and services, including insurance.

Dow Chemical Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of 34 cents per share, a rise of 36% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. The average estimate is the same as three months ago. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has risen from 33 cents during the last month. For the year, analysts are projecting net income of $1.90 per share, a decline of 24.9% from last year.

Last quarter, the company came in at profit of 42 cents per share against a mean estimate of net income of 37 cents per share, beating estimates after missing them in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, it missed forecasts by 9 cents.

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A Look Back: In the third quarter, profit fell 35.3% to $582 million (42 cents a share) from $900 million (69 cents a share) the year earlier, but exceeded analyst expectations. Revenue fell 9.7% to $13.64 billion from $15.11 billion.

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