Earnings Outlook for NetApp

NetApp NTAP unveils its next round of earnings this Tuesday, December 01. 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

Analysts predict NetApp will report earnings of $0.73 per share on revenue of $1.31 billion. In the same quarter last year, NetApp announced EPS of $1.09 on revenue of $1.37 billion.

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 Tuesday, quarterly profit would be down 33.03%. Sales would be down 4.45% on a year-over-year basis. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Shares of NetApp were trading at $53.26 as of November 27. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 9.44%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably upset going into this earnings release.

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