SeaChange International's Earnings Outlook

SeaChange International SEAC releases its next round of earnings this Tuesday, April 13. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to SeaChange International's Q4 earnings report.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, And Earnings Per Share?

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Analysts are predicting SeaChange International will report a loss of $0.1 per share on revenue of $4.63 million. In the same quarter last year, SeaChange International reported EPS of $0.13 on revenue of $19.31 million.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

Analysts who cover this company will publish forward-looking estimates of its revenue and EPS each quarter. Averaging together every EPS and revenue prediction that each analyst makes about a company in a quarter yields the "consensus estimates." A company posting earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate is known as an "earnings surprise" and may move the stock by a considerable margin.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Tuesday, quarterly profit would be down 176.92%. Revenue would be down 76.03% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the past 52-week period, shares of SeaChange International have declined 42.08%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. SeaChange International is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.