Benzinga | Feb 23, 2021 10:11AM EST

A Preview Of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals's Earnings

On Wednesday, February 24, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) 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

Wall Street expects an EPS loss of $0.47 and sales around $123.20 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals EPS in the same period a year ago totaled $0.34. Revenue was $98.33 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 report earnings in line when it publishes results Wednesday, quarterly profit would be down 38.24%. Sales would be up 25.3% from the year-ago period. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate -0.38 -0.44 -0.48 -0.36EPS Actual -0.54 -0.27 -0.57 -0.34Revenue Estimate 118.82 M 103.34 M 91.51 M 96.76 MRevenue Actual 120.58 M 110.10 M 90.07 M 98.33 M

Stock Performance

Shares of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals were trading at $50.18 as of February 22. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 20.92%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders can be satisfied going into this earnings release.

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