EPS (Diluted)

How to read it

EPS (Diluted) is the earnings per share a company reports on its income statement, worked out as if every option, warrant and convertible security that would lower it had been turned into shares. It rises when net income grows or the diluted share count shrinks, for instance through buybacks, and falls when profit drops or new shares are issued. stockrow shows it for the trailing twelve months, for each quarter and for each fiscal year.

What is typical

The level of EPS depends on how many shares a company has chosen to issue, so two companies of the same size can report very different figures; it is most useful tracked over time for one company. Steady businesses such as utilities and consumer staples tend to show smooth EPS, while cyclical, commodity and early-stage companies show large swings and losses. Compare its growth with the sector medians rather than comparing levels across companies.

Pitfalls

Diluted EPS carries every one-off item in net income, such as asset sales, write-downs and tax changes, so a single period can mislead. Stock splits change the share count and therefore the figure. On stockrow it feeds Earnings per Diluted Share Growth, so a distorted period also distorts that growth rate.