8x8's Earnings: A Preview

8x8 EGHT unveils its next round of earnings this Monday, May 10. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for the earnings announcement.

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

Earnings and EPS are useful metrics of profitability. Total earnings also known as net income is equal to total revenue minus total expenses. Dividing net income by the total number of shares outstanding yields EPS.

Earnings And Revenue

Wall Street analysts see 8x8 reporting a quarterly loss of $0.01 per share on sales of $140.01 million. 8x8 reported a per-share loss of $0.12 when it published results during the same quarter last year. Sales in that period totaled $121.48 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 91.67% increase in the company's EPS figure. Revenue would be have grown 15.26% from the same quarter last year. 8x8's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 50.33%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. 8x8 is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.