Last week's profit announcement from Chart Industries, Inc. (NYSE:GTLS) was underwhelming for investors, despite headline numbers being robust. We think that the market might be paying attention to some underlying factors that they find to be concerning.

Check out our latest analysis for Chart Industries

In order to understand the potential for per share returns, it is essential to consider how much a company is diluting shareholders. As it happens, Chart Industries issued 8.2% more new shares over the last year. As a result, its net income is now split between a greater number of shares. To talk about net income, without noticing earnings per share, is to be distracted by the big numbers while ignoring the smaller numbers that talk to per share value. You can see a chart of Chart Industries' EPS by clicking here.

How Is Dilution Impacting Chart Industries' Earnings Per Share (EPS)?

Chart Industries has improved its profit over the last three years, with an annualized gain of 230% in that time. But EPS was only up 178% per year, in the exact same period. And at a glance the 846% gain in profit over the last year impresses. But in comparison, EPS only increased by 842% over the same period. Therefore, the dilution is having a noteworthy influence on shareholder returns.

Changes in the share price do tend to reflect changes in earnings per share, in the long run. So Chart Industries shareholders will want to see that EPS figure continue to increase. But on the other hand, we'd be far less excited to learn profit (but not EPS) was improving. For the ordinary retail shareholder, EPS is a great measure to check your hypothetical "share" of the company's profit.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Chart Industries' Profit Performance

Each Chart Industries share now gets a meaningfully smaller slice of its overall profit, due to dilution of existing shareholders. Because of this, we think that it may be that Chart Industries' statutory profits are better than its underlying earnings power. But on the bright side, its earnings per share have grown at an extremely impressive rate over the last three years. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Chart Industries you should know about.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Chart Industries' profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.