Earnings Outlook for Blackbaud

Blackbaud BLKB will be releasing its next round of earnings this Wednesday, April 28. For all of the relevant information, here is your guide for Wednesday's Q1 earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, 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

Blackbaud EPS will likely be near $0.62 while revenue will be around $215.90 million, according to analysts. In the same quarter last year, Blackbaud announced EPS of $0.51 on revenue of $223.62 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.

If the company were to report earnings in line when it publishes results Wednesday, earnings would be up 21.57%. Sales would be down 3.45% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Blackbaud were trading at $72.54 as of April 26. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 28.52%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably content going into this earnings release.

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