Insurance industry-focused software maker Guidewire (NYSE:GWRE) will be reporting earnings tomorrow after market hours. Here's what you need to know.

Last quarter Guidewire reported revenues of $207.5 million, up 5.09% year on year, missing analyst expectations by 3.05%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts' revenue estimates and a decline in its gross margin compared to the previous quarter. Additionally, while next quarter's revenue guidance was roughly in line, full year revenue guidance was below expectations.

Is Guidewire buy or sell heading into the earnings? Read our full analysis here, it's free.

This quarter analysts are expecting Guidewire's revenue to grow 6.84% year on year to $261.3 million, in line with the 6.61% year-over-year increase in revenue the company had recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $0.37 per share.

Majority of analysts covering the company have reconfirmed their estimates over the last thirty days, suggesting they are expecting the business to stay the course heading into the earnings. The company only missed Wall St's revenue estimates once over the last two years, and has on average exceeded top line expectations by 2.79%.

Looking at Guidewire's peers in the vertical software segment, some of them have already reported Q4 earnings results, giving us a hint of what we can expect. Manhattan Associates delivered top-line growth of 20.4% year on year, beating analyst estimates by 6.62%, and Bentley reported revenues up 10.6% year on year, exceeding estimates by 0.1%. Manhattan Associates traded down 2.0% on the results, and Bentley was up 2.0%.

Read our full analysis of Manhattan Associates's results here and Bentley's results here.

There has been positive sentiment among investors in the vertical software segment, with the stocks up on average 2.23% over the last month. Guidewire is up 4.39% during the same time, and is heading into the earnings with analysts' average price target of $86.4, compared to share price of $86.03.

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The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.