Pacific Gas and Electric Company $($PCG$)$ is a large gas and electric utility operating in northern and central California. Three recent years of financial data for Pacific Gas and Electric are as follows $($in millions$)$:

Line Item Description Year $3$ Year $2$ Year $1$

Net income $$(7,642)$ $$(6,837)$ $$1,660$

Preferred dividends $$14$ $$14$ $$14$

Average number of common shares outstanding $528517512$

a$.$ Determine the earnings per share for Years $13.$ For those boxes in which you must enter subtractive or negative numbers use a minus sign. Round your answers to two decimal places.

Line Item Description Year $3$ Year $2$ Year $1$

EPS $fill in the blank $1$

$fill in the blank $2$

$fill in the blank $3$

b$.$ Interpret the trend in earnings per share using horizontal analysis for the three years in terms of the change in earnings and average shares outstanding.