The Procter & Gamble Company Third Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) will unveil its latest earnings on Friday, April 27, 2012. Procter & Gamble sells and markets consumer products such as pharmaceuticals, cleaning supplies, personal care, and pet supplies in more than 180 countries.

The Procter & Gamble Company Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of 93 cents per share, a decline of 3.1% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $1.06. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at 93 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 0.8% versus last year to $3.96.

Past Earnings Performance: The company topped forecasts last quarter after being in line with estimates the quarter prior. In the second quarter, it reported net income of $1.10 per share versus a mean estimate of $1.08. Two quarters ago, it reported profit of $1.03 per share.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts are projecting a rise of 0.3% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $20.3 billion.

Analyst Ratings: Analysts are bullish on this stock, with 15 analysts rating it as a buy, two rating it as a sell and six rating it as a hold.

A Look Back: In the second quarter, profit fell 49.3% to $1.69 billion (57 cents a share) from $3.33 billion ($1.11 a share) the year earlier, but exceeded analyst expectations. Revenue rose 3.7% to $22.14 billion from $21.35 billion.

Key Stats:

On the top line, the company is looking to build on four-straight revenue increases heading into this earnings announcement. Revenue rose 5.5% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, 10.2% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and 8.9% in the first quarter before increasing again in the second quarter.

An income boost this time around would be welcome news after profit declines in the past two quarters. Net income dropped 1.9% in the first quarter and then again in the second quarter.

Stock Price Performance: Between January 26, 2012 and April 23, 2012, the stock price rose $1.85 (2.9%), from $64.80 to $66.65. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between April 25, 2011 and May 4, 2011, when shares rose for eight straight days, increasing 5.8% (+$3.54) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 21, 2011 and August 4, 2011 when shares fell for 11 straight days, dropping 7.6% (-$4.83) over that span.

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

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