Earnings Preview: FireEye

FireEye FEYE announces its next round of earnings this Tuesday, April 27. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Tuesday's Q1 earnings announcement.

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

Analysts covering FireEye modeled for quarterly EPS of $0.06 on revenue of $236.97 million. FireEye EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.02. Revenue was $224.72 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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 400.0% increase in the company's EPS figure. Revenue would be up 5.45% from the year-ago period. The company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 81.79%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can relax 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. FireEye is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.