how do you calculate earnings per share 
earnings per share eps is calculated by dividing a company s net income by its number of outstanding shares it s a key metric for assessing a company s profitability on a per share basis a higher eps generally indicates higher profitability the bottom lineshares are units of stocks issued by a corporation that represent ownership they are sold to investors and traders to raise capital for the company many businesses issue stocks and shares when they need funds for research and development expansion or other growth opportunities 