Traders watch earnings announcements keenly, as changes in a company’s financials can be a good indication whether a company is on the right track, or headed the wrong way.
McAfee, Inc. (NYSE:MFE) is scheduled to release its earnings results Thursday. The company currently has an earnings per share ratio (EPS trailing twelve months) of 1.09 and investors are hoping to see that number grow. Let’s take a look at the performance of the stock since its previous earnings release.
In the past three months, the stock has posted a 2.99% gain in terms of stock price. Over the same period, the Security Software & Services industry group has returned a combined 1.55% gain.
So the eyes of investors turn to this new round of earnings.
Now, good earnings don’t always lead to higher stock prices, but keeping up on earnings is still a vital part of your fundamental stock analysis. Also note that companies often change earnings dates, so you should double-check them often.
When looking at earnings, it’s very helpful to see how stocks compare to others in its industry group. And even though two stocks may not be direct competitors, many analysts and institutional investors still compare them and evaluate them relative to other stocks in their group.
MFE is in the Security Software & Services industry group where it competes for investor dollars with companies like Novell Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL), which released its earnings on February 25 and last reported a 106.5% ,gain in quarter-over-quarter EPS.
Another industry peer, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) released its earnings on April 26 and last reported a 21.85% gain in QOQ EPS.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is one of the biggest stocks in the industry with a market cap of $8.7B. It closed yesterday at $35.65.
Source:http://www.learningmarkets.com/News-Feed/2010042919404/mcafee-inc-earnings-scheduled-thursday-mfe-novl-chkp.html
