Benzinga | Nov 20, 2020 10:03AM EST

Earnings Preview: Enanta Pharmaceuticals

On Monday, November 23, Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENTA) will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's outlook for Enanta Pharmaceuticals is included in the following report.

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

Analysts are predicting Enanta Pharmaceuticals will report a loss of $0.95 per share on revenue of $25.74 million. In the same quarter last year, Enanta Pharmaceuticals reported EPS of $0.44 on revenue of $51.31 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

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.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 315.91% decrease in the company's earnings. Sales would be down 49.84% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter Q3 2020 Q2 2020 Q1 2020 Q4 2019EPS Estimate -0.77 -0.87 0.58 0.53EPS Actual -0.71 -0.30 0.65 0.44Revenue Estimate 27.89 M 27.64 M 58.86 M 55.94 MRevenue Actual 18.65 M 27.62 M 52.57 M 51.31 M

Stock Performance

Shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals were trading at $44.15 as of November 19. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 31.07%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely unhappy going into this earnings release.

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