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Per-share & capital returns

Earnings Per Share EPS

EPS is a company's net profit divided by its shares outstanding, showing how much profit each share earned.

Part of the Growth & Capital Returns course · Lesson 6 of 26
Formula
(Net Income - Preferred Dividends) / Weighted-Average Common Shares Outstanding

What it is

Earnings per share takes the profit a company reports and splits it across all its common shares. It tells you the slice of profit that belongs to one share. "Basic" EPS uses the actual share count; a related figure, diluted EPS, also counts shares that could be created from options and convertibles.

Why it matters

EPS is the building block of the P/E ratio and the most-watched number when a company reports results. A pitfall is that EPS can rise simply because the company bought back shares, not because the business earned more, so always check whether profit itself grew.

How it's calculated

Take net income, subtract any preferred dividends, then divide by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period.

How Quintarthai uses it

EPS appears in the Summary Key-metrics grid (via P/E) and the 5-year financial highlights, with per-share figures broken out on the Ratios tab. Open a company page in the app to see it.

Cross-border note. US filers report EPS under US GAAP and Canadian filers under IFRS, so one-time items can be classified differently; Quintarthai pulls US figures from SEC EDGAR and Canadian figures from SEDAR+.

FAQ

What's the difference between basic and diluted EPS?
Basic EPS uses only the shares actually outstanding, while diluted EPS also includes shares that could be issued from options, warrants, and convertibles, which lowers the figure.
Why does EPS use a weighted-average share count?
Share counts change during a year as companies issue or buy back stock, so a weighted average reflects how many shares existed across the period rather than just the year-end snapshot.
Related terms
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