Aspen Group's Earnings Outlook

Aspen Group ASPU releases its next round of earnings this Tuesday, July 13. Get the latest predictions in Benzinga's essential guide to the company's Q4 earnings report.

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

Analysts are expecting Aspen Group to report a loss of $0.05 per share. Revenue will likely be around $18.51 million, according to the consensus estimate. Aspen Group's loss in the same period a year ago was $0.03 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $14.10 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.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Tuesday, EPS would have fallen 66.67%. Sales would be up 31.28% 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 Aspen Group were trading at $6.48 as of July 09. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 28.19%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely a little upset going into this earnings release.

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