Earnings Outlook for Sierra Wireless

Sierra Wireless SWIR unveils its next round of earnings this Thursday, May 13. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for the earnings announcement.

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 expecting Sierra Wireless to report a loss of $0.26 per share. Revenue will likely be around $109.85 million, according to the consensus estimate. In the same quarter last year, Sierra Wireless posted a loss of $0.41 per share on sales of $157.58 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 match the consensus estimate when it reports Thursday, EPS would be up 36.59%. Sales would be down 30.29% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the Sierra Wireless's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Sierra Wireless were trading at $13.5 as of May 11. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 72.05%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be satisfied going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Sierra Wireless is scheduled to hold the call at 17:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.