A Preview Of Opera's Earnings

Opera OPRA releases its next round of earnings this Thursday, November 19. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Opera's Q3 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

Wall Street analysts see Opera reporting earnings of $0.31 per share on revenue of $40.77 million. Opera earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.27 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $93.68 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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Thursday, quarterly profit would be up 14.81%. Revenue would be down 56.48% on a year-over-year basis. Opera's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Opera were trading at $8.96 as of November 17. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 7.72%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Opera is scheduled to hold the call at 08:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.