What Earnings Per Share (EPS) Tells Investors - SmartAsset (2024)

Earnings per share, or EPS, is a financial measurement that tells investors if a company is profitable. You can calculate EPS by determining a company’s net income and dividing it by the number of its outstanding stock shares. Savvy investors consider a company’s earnings per share when makinginvestment decisions. Understanding how it plays a role in selecting a stock can help investors make smart money moves. If you have questions about how EPS could affect your investment portfolio, you may want to considerspeaking with a financial advisor.

What Is Earnings Per Share (EPS)?

Earnings per share (EPS) indicates the financial health of a company. While earnings are a company’s revenue minus operation expenses, earnings per share are the earnings remaining for shareholders divided by the number of outstanding shares. If a company has high earnings per share, investors perceive them to be more profitable.

Many investors will use this number to gauge whether investing in a particular company is a savvy endeavor. The number becomes more valuable when investors evaluate a company’s EPS by comparing it with other companies in the same industry. They may also evaluate the company’s share priceand market cap. Using a company’s EPS, when combined with share price, helps investors decide if the stock is fairly priced or not.

An analyst may also use what’s called “normalized EPS.” This measurement intends to develop a more accurate portrayal of a company’s financial health. This adjustment of a company’s income statementreflects the cycles of the economy and one-off expenses that may not reliably reveal a company’s profitability.

How to Calculate EPS

There are a couple of ways to calculate a company’s EPS. The first is to subtract preferred dividends from net income and divide them by the end-of-period shares outstanding. The other way is to subtract preferred dividends from net income and divide by the weighted average of shares outstanding.

For example, Company A has a net income of $2 million in the second quarter of 2020. The company then announced preferred dividends of $275,000, with the total number of shares outstanding being 12 million.Because common shares are equal in nature, Company A’s EPS is $0.14.

Here’s how the above example looks in practice:

($2,000,000 – $275,000) ÷ 12,000,000 = $0.14

Some investors and analysts use a diluted EPS because it understates the actual amount of EPS entitled to shareholders. This is because companies often have dilutive securities outstanding, such as stock options, that tend to increase the number of shares outstanding. Because converting options into outstanding shares raises the total number of outstanding shares without raising its net income, the EPS is dilutive.

For instance, let’s say Company A also has stock options that can be converted into two million shares outstanding. If we add that to the 12 million original shares outstanding, we have a total of 14 million. By altering that number in the equation above, the dilutive EPS then becomes $0.12, which is less than the basic EPS.

Why Is Earnings Per Share Important?

Analysts and investors pay close attention to a company’s earnings because it can ultimately drive the stock price. Generally, if a company has strong earnings for a quarter, it’s a sign that the stock price may increase. Conversely, if earnings are dropping, this is a sign the stock price might decrease.

Even if a company isn’t blowing its earnings out of the water, any increase can be a sign of future profitability. But since many factors play a role in this evaluation, investors can never guarantee this prediction will materialize.

If you take a look back at the “dot-com boom,” earnings came in substantially less than investors predicted. Initially, investors felt excited about the potential growth of the companies involved, and that resulted in skyrocketing stock prices. Unfortunately, companies weren’t earning enough to keep up with the prediction, making it impossible to support their high valuations. This resulted in plummeting stock prices for these dot-com companies.

Earnings Per Share and Dividends

EPS is used to calculate performance but when the company makes money there isn’t always an easy way for shareholders to access the profits. However, some companies can either invest their equity back into their company or pass it on to the shareholders with dividends.

While the first option may help the company increase profits, the second option lets shareholders make money right away, which many prefer in order to receive additional income on their ownership stake. Ideally, both options will help the company increase earnings, resulting in returns for the investors. In order to receive dividends, the board of directors would have to make it possible.

Evaluating EPSDuring Earning Seasons

Federal securities law requires publicly traded companies to release their financial statements on an ongoing basis. Typically, companies will produce financial results quarterly. However, some follow afiscal calendar.

Although analysts and investors review all financial results, EPS is one of the most critical evaluations during earnings season. Since investors prioritize earnings, stock analysts will formulate earnings estimates. The investors then collect all the estimates into what’s called the consensus earnings forecast.

If a company surpasses its estimate, it’s called earning surprise, which then may result in a spike in the stock price. But, if the company’s earnings are less than the estimate, the stock price tends to fall.

Bottom Line

Earnings per share are one of the key factors investors should use when determining the financial health of the company. If you’re considering the purchase of stock from a specific company, evaluating its earnings per share is one indicator that the company is heading in the right direction toward profitability.

However, it’s important to be mindful that EPS may not tell the whole story. Companies that buy back their own shares can manipulate EPS, and it doesn’t take outstanding debt into account. Before you purchase any stock in a company, always make sure the investment aligns with your financial goals.

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