S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Tellabs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLAB) will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, January 31, 2012. Tellabs designs and markets equipment to telecommunications service providers worldwide.

Tellabs, Inc. Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for net loss of 2 cents per share, a swing from net income of 2 cents in the year earlier quarter. The average estimate is the same as three months ago. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate was unchanged. It also has not changed during the last month. For the year, analysts are projecting a loss of 11 cents per share, a swing from profit of 47 cents last year.

Past Earnings Performance: The company has fallen in line with estimates the last two quarters. In the third quarter, it reported net loss of one cent per share and two quarters ago booked a loss of 3 cents.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts are projecting a decline of 23% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $316 million.

Analyst Ratings: Analysts seem relatively indifferent about Tellabs with 13 of 18 analysts surveyed maintaining a hold rating.

A Look Back: In the third quarter, the company swung to a loss of $138.2 million (38 cents a share) from a profit of $56.5 million (15 cents) a year earlier, meeting analyst expectations. Revenue fell 26.9% to $313.8 million from $429.2 million.

Key Stats:

Revenue has fallen for the past three quarters. Revenue fell 20.9% in second quarter from the year earlier and 15.1% in the first quarter.

Competitors to Watch: ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN), Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), Sycamore Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCMR), Ditech Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:DITC), Calix, Inc. (NYSE:CALX), Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONS), and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU).

Stock Price Performance: During November 25, 2011 to January 25, 2012, the stock price had risen 36 cents (9.4%) from $3.85 to $4.21. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between October 3, 2011 and October 11, 2011 when shares rose for seven-straight days, rising 12.5% (+50 cents) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between November 10, 2011 and November 25, 2011 when shares fell for 11-straight days, falling 11.9% (-52 cents) over that span.

(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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