Ariba, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARBA) will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, October 27, 2011. Ariba is a provider of collaborative business commerce solutions for buying and selling goods and services.

Ariba, Inc. Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of 8 cents per share, a rise of 14.3% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from 9 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at 8 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 4.3% versus last year to 24 cents.

Past Earnings Performance: The company topped estimates last quarter after missing forecasts the quarter prior. In the third quarter, it reported net income of 6 cents per share against a mean estimate of profit of 5 cents per share. In the second quarter, it missed forecasts by one cent.

Investing Insights: Amazon.com has a Stock Chart Technical Analysts Dream About.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $119.4 million in revenue this quarter, a rise of 25.6% from the year ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $440.5 million for the year, a rise of 22% from last year’s revenue of $361.1 million.

Analyst Ratings: six out of 11 analysts surveyed (54.5%) have a buy rating on Ariba.. This is below the mean analyst rating of 10 competitors, which average 69.4% buy ratings.

A Look Back: In the third quarter, the company swung to a loss of $11.9 million (13 cents a share) from a profit of $4.3 million (5 cents) a year earlier, but beat analyst expectations. Revenue rose 30.7% to $121.9 million from $93.2 million.

Key Stats:

Revenue has risen the past four quarters. Revenue rose 24.8% in the second quarter from the year earlier, climbed 5.5% in the first quarter from the year-ago quarter and 12.8% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

Ariba’s loss in the latest quarter followed profits in the previous three quarters. The company reported a profit of $1,000 in the second quarter, a profit of $42.1 million in the first and a profit of $4.1 million in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

Competitors to Watch: SciQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SQI), Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL), Intl. Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ:EPAY), Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH), Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS), American Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSWA), Deltek Inc. (NASDAQ:PROJ), Selectica, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLTC), and MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ:MTSL).

Stock Price Performance: During August 25, 2011 to October 21, 2011, the stock price had risen $8.20 (34.2%) from $23.95 to $32.15. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between June 22, 2011 and July 8, 2011 when shares rose for 12-straight days, rising 13.6% (+$4.40) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between September 27, 2011 and October 3, 2011 when shares fell for five-straight days, falling 11% (-$3.26) over that span. Shares are up $8.66 (+36.9%) year to date.

(Source: Xignite Financials)

Investing Insights: Amazon.com has a Stock Chart Technical Analysts Dream About.

Get Your FREE Special Report: 4 Things You Must Know About the US Economy Now!