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Friday, July 31, 2009

Basic EPS & Diluted EPS

Earnings per Share or EPS is one of the most powerful and popular fundamental indicators of a company or stock; and is the basis for calculating Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio. EPS comes mainly in two forms, Basic Earnings per Share and Diluted Earnings per Share. Basic EPS is a simple calculation in which the company’s earnings are divided by the total number of shares outstanding at that time. For example, $1,000,000 earnings and 100,000 shares outstanding will give a basic EPS of $10. But this is not very accurate from an investor’s point of view as there are many other factors to consider.

Diluted EPS is a more accurate, complex and investor-friendly way of calculating EPS. It is calculated using the fully diluted shares outstanding which can include stock options, convertible debts, warrants, convertible preferred stocks, and employee stock purchase plans in addition to normal outstanding stocks. Diluted EPS is calculated with regard to the possible scenario in which the holders of these dilutive shares exercise their shares. Each of these dilutive stocks are weighted according to their effects, like most, least and anti-dilutive; and is diluted to the basic EPS number.

Diluted EPS provides a more realistic picture of a company’s earnings per share. Its value is always lesser than the basic EPS value. For instance, a company XYZ can have a basic EPS of $10 but diluted EPS of $9.5 only. When a company reports net loss, then these dilutive shares become anti-dilutive, and thus the dilutive EPS equals basic EPS. The companies which do not have any dilutive shares also report only basic EPS.

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