Pacific Biosciences Earnings Preview

On Wednesday, February 10, Pacific Biosciences PACB will release its latest earnings report. Check out Benzinga's preview to understand the implications.

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

Based on Pacific Biosciences management projections, analysts predict EPS of $0.32 on revenue of $25.41 million. In the same quarter last year, Pacific Biosciences posted break-even earnings on sales of $27.93 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 match the consensus estimate when it reports Wednesday, EPS would have fallen 0%. Revenue would be down 9.02% 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 Pacific Biosciences were trading at $38.65 as of February 08. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 798.12%. 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. Pacific Biosciences is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.