Earnings Outlook for CoStar Group

CoStar Group CSGP releases its next round of earnings this Tuesday, April 27. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's Q1 earnings report.

Net Income, Earnings, 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

CoStar Group EPS is expected to be around $2.4, according to sell-side analysts. Sales will likely be near $454.03 million. In the same quarter last year, CoStar Group announced EPS of $2.44 on revenue of $391.85 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 Tuesday, earnings would be down 1.64%. Sales would be up 15.87% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 53.03%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably relaxed going into this earnings release. Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement.

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