TTM is financial slang for "trailing 12 months," but it's also the name of a rapid-response circuit board maker. Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick TTM Technologies (NASDAQ:TTMI) is set to report quarterly earnings tonight, and we're taking a look at what to expect.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or waffle? Eight analysts follow TTM according to Capital IQ, and six of them recommend that you buy the stock. The other two maintain a "hold" rating.
  • Revenues. Analysts are looking for a 33% year-over-year improvement in sales to $75.8 million, on average.
  • Earnings. The average analyst forecast calls for $0.22 of quarterly GAAP profits, up from $0.08 a year ago.

What management says:
Management has issued financial forecast figures, and they're solidly in the same range as analyst estimates. TTM in this case stands for "Time To Market," and the name reflects the company's strategy of delivering components on a tight schedule. It's what sets TTM apart from the competition, and there are no plans to substantially change this approach since it's working out very well so far.

What management does:

Margins %

12/04

4/05

7/05

10/05

12/05

4/06

Gross

28.5

26.8

23.9

22.6

22.4

23.8

Operating

17.5

15.9

13.3

11.9

11.9

13.7

Net

11.8

10.9

9.5

7.9

12.8

13.9
All data courtesy of Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Data reflects trailing-12-month performance for the quarters ended in the named months.

One Fool says:
TTM has recently been identified as one of the top 100 growth companies by two different magazines of solid repute. What's interesting is that it has managed to grow while also reducing capital expenditure rates over most of the last few quarters. That, plus improving margins and increased revenues after a mostly lean 2005, has created a free cash flow machine with accelerating FCF growth.

Rumor has it that the cash that's piling up in TTM's coffers might be used to buy some of the competition, such as Tyco's (NYSE:TYC) printed-circuit-board division. In the meantime, the money is parked in interest-bearing securities, and the income from that makes a meaningful contribution to earnings. Tonight, we should see revenues spike again, and net margins should improve considerably, too. I'm hoping to see improved gross margins on the basis of pricing power. If all of this comes to pass as I expect, TTM shareholders should be a happy bunch tomorrow morning.

Competitors:

  • Sanmina-SCI (NASDAQ:SANM)
  • DDI (NASDAQ:DDIC)
  • Tyco
  • Flextronics (NASDAQ:FLEX)
  • Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL)

TTM is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick. Take the newsletter for a 30-day free trial.

Tyco is a Motley Fool Inside Value pick.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund owns none of the stocks discussed here. Foolish disclosureis available at very short notice, and you can check outAnders' holdings for yourself.