Following today’s market close, insurance giant Aflac Incorporated (AFL) posted better than expected numbers for its fourth quarter.
Headed into this afternoon’s earnings release, Wall Street was looking to see Aflac post earnings of $1.15 per share. The actual earnings came in better than expected at $1.18 per share.
During the same period last year, Aflac had earnings of 98 cents per share.
Revenues were up 7.9% during the quarter to $4.6 billion, a bit shy of the $4.99 billion that analysts were expecting.
Despite the miss in revenues, after hours traders are pushing the stock higher following the earnings numbers. The stock is trading up 2.6% in after hours trading to $50.55.
The company reported that U.S. sales are still under pressure from the current economic situation and high unemployment rate.
Looking ahead to 2010, Aflac stated that it expects operating income to jump by 9 to 12%, and should come be in a range between $5.24 to $5.56. This was well above the $4.83 that analysts had previously forecast for the year.
Today’s report marks the 20th straight year when Aflac has been able to hits its full year forecast.
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