Benzinga | Feb 9, 2021 10:15AM EST

Avalara's Earnings Outlook

On Wednesday, February 10, Avalara (NYSE:AVLR) will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's outlook for Avalara is included in the following report.

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

Sell-side analysts are expecting Avalara's loss per share to be near $0.06 on sales of $133.39 million. In the same quarter last year, Avalara posted a loss of $0.08 per share on sales of $107.63 million.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

Wall Street analysts who study this company will publish analyst estimates of revenue and EPS. The averages of all analyst EPS and revenue estimates are called the "consensus estimates"; these consensus estimates can have a significant effect on a company's performance during an earnings release. When a company posts earnings or revenue above or below a consensus estimate, it has posted an "earnings surprise", which can really move a stock depending on the difference between actual and estimated values.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate, earnings would be up 25.0%. Revenue would be have grown 23.94% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has compared to analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate -0.09 -0.10 -0.18 -0.08EPS Actual 0.02 0.04 -0.20 -0.08Revenue Estimate 116.20 M 110.36 M 24.97 M 100.13 MRevenue Actual 127.88 M 116.49 M 111.44 M 107.63 M

Stock Performance

Shares of Avalara were trading at $176.62 as of February 08. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 91.72%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Avalara is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.