Benzinga | Mar 1, 2021 10:05AM EST

Preview: Quanterix's Earnings

Quanterix (NASDAQ:QTRX) releases its next round of earnings this Tuesday, March 02. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Quanterix's Q4 earnings report.

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

Analysts are expecting Quanterix to report a loss of $0.33 per share. Revenue will likely be around $23.44 million, according to the consensus estimate. In the same quarter last year, Quanterix posted a loss of $0.39 per share on sales of $15.92 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.

The Wall Street consensus estimate for earnings would represent a 15.38% increase for the company. Sales would be up 47.26% on a year-over-year basis. Quanterix's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate -0.42 -0.44 -0.40 -0.43EPS Actual 0.07 -0.43 -0.41 -0.39Revenue Estimate 14.91 M 15.01 M 13.32 M 13.86 MRevenue Actual 31.39 M 13.13 M 15.73 M 15.92 M

Stock Performance

Shares of Quanterix were trading at $75.75 as of February 26. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 243.82%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably happy going into this earnings release.

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