EMC’s Second Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component EMC (NYSE:EMC) will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. EMC and its subsidiaries deliver and support a range of information infrastructure technologies and solutions.

EMC Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for net income of 33 cents per share, a rise of 13.8% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. The average estimate is the same as three months ago. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate was unchanged. It also has not changed during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 15.2% versus last year to $1.44.

Past Earnings Performance: The company has beaten estimates the last four quarters and is coming off a quarter where it topped forecasts by 2 cents, reporting profit of 31 cents per share against a mean estimate of net income of 29 cents per share.

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A Look Back: In the first quarter, profit rose 23% to $586.8 million (27 cents a share) from $477.1 million (21 cents a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue rose 10.6% to $5.09 billion from $4.61 billion.

Stock Price Performance: Between April 23, 2012 and July 18, 2012, the stock price fell $2.58 (-9.3%), from $27.66 to $25.08. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between January 17, 2012 and January 25, 2012, when shares rose for seven straight days, increasing 15.6% (+$3.47) 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, dropping 10.9% (-$2.67) over that span.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts predict a rise of 9.1% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $5.29 billion.

Key Stats:

With double-digit revenue growth the past four quarters, this earnings release is a chance to keep that positive trend going. The company has averaged year-over-year revenue growth of 15.8% over the last four quarters.

This upcoming earnings announcement will be a chance to build on positive earnings momentum over the last three quarters. Net income rose 28.2% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year and 32.4% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year before increasing again in the first quarter.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 1.27 last quarter. The current ratio is an indication of a firm’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands and generally, for every dollar the company owes in the short term, it has that figure available in assets that can be converted to cash in the short term.

Analyst Ratings: With 27 analysts rating the stock a buy, none rating it a sell and two rating the stock a hold, there are indications of a bullish stance by analysts.

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

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