Earnings Preview for Strategic Education

Strategic Education STRA unveils its next round of earnings this Friday, February 26. 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 expect Strategic Education earnings of $1.5 per share. Revenue will likely be around $273.74 million, according to the consensus estimate. Strategic Education EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $2.13. Revenue was $263.77 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 Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 29.58% decrease for the company. Sales would be have grown 3.78% from the same quarter last year. Strategic Education's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Strategic Education were trading at $93.93 as of February 24. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 36.52%. 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. Strategic Education is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.