FMC Q4 Earnings Preview

FMC Corporation is a chemical company serving agricultural, consumer and industrial markets globally with innovative solutions, applications and products. The company will report its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday, February 8, 2012.

 

Expectations:

The consensus estimate for the company's earnings is $1.38 per share, up 29% from a year ago when FMC reported earnings of $1.07 per share. Over the past month, the consensus estimate has risen from $1.37, but it's the same as the estimate from three months ago. Analysts are expecting earnings of $5.77 per share for the fiscal year. Revenue is expected to surpass the year-earlier total of $810.5 million by 8.7%, finishing at $881.2 million for the quarter. The company is projected to report revenue of $3.35 billion for the fiscal year.

 

Performance:

For the past four quarters, the company has seen revenue growth. Revenue increased 11.6% to $862.1 million in the third quarter. Revenue rose 4.6% in the second quarter from the year earlier, climbed 5.1% in the first quarter from the year-ago quarter and 12.2% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year. Over the past quarter, the stock price has increased from $83.96 on November 7, 2011 to $93.28. The biggest recent change for FMC's stock price came on November 30, 2011, when it rose $4.11 per share to $83.78.

 

Ratings:

The majority of analysts (88.9%) rate the stock as a buy. The company's nearest 10 competitors only average 61.7% buys. Analysts have become increasingly pessimistic about the stock, as the number of buy ratings has dropped slightly over the last three months.