Benzinga | Mar 9, 2021 10:08AM EST

Earnings Outlook for LendingClub

On Wednesday, March 10, LendingClub (NYSE:LC) will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's report can help you figure out the ins and outs of the earnings release.

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

Wall Street analysts see LendingClub reporting a quarterly loss of $0.25 per share on sales of $77.72 million. LendingClub earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.08 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $188.49 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 when it reports Wednesday, EPS would have fallen 412.5%. Revenue would have fallen 58.77% from the same quarter last year. LendingClub's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2020EPS Estimate -0.45 -0.51 -0.07 0.04EPS Actual -0.25 -0.60 -0.44 0.08Revenue Estimate 56.91 M 58.22 M 174.62 M 198.83 MRevenue Actual 74.71 M 43.87 M 120.21 M 188.49 M

Stock Performance

Shares of LendingClub were trading at $10.91 as of March 08. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 19.42%. 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. LendingClub is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.