Earnings Outlook For Proofpoint

Proofpoint PFPT releases its next round of earnings this Thursday, February 04. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Proofpoint's Q4 earnings report.

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 Proofpoint reporting earnings of $0.42 per share on sales of $269.29 million. In the same quarter last year, Proofpoint reported EPS of $0.52 on revenue of $243.43 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 19.23% decline in the company's EPS figure. Revenue would be up 10.62% on a year-over-year basis. Proofpoint's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares of Proofpoint are up 3.58%.

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