Technology hardware and services marketer CDW (NASDAQ:CDWC) will report first-quarter 2007 financial results on April 24.

What analysts say:

•  Buy, sell, or waffle? With 14 analysts covering CDW, it seems 11 of them are hard-wired to rate it a hold, while three recommend a buy.

•  Revenues. Sales of hardware and services are expected to bring in $1.8 billion, a 15% increase over the year before.

•  Earnings. Profits are expected to grow a commensurate 13% to $0.85 per share.

What management says:
Although revenues were at record levels last quarter and certain components like laptop sales saw strong demand, the core corporate business segment that comprises two-thirds of the Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation's revenues rose only 7% for the year. In part, that was due to a restructuring of its sales force catering to that clientele, but it also strained relations with them. CEO John Edwardson noted, "It took us longer than we anticipated to rebuild relationships between the tens of thousands of customers and hundreds of account managers that were reassigned." With that transition behind it now, the company expects further revenue and profit growth.

What management does:
In comparison with competitors PC Connection (NASDAQ:PCCC), Insight Enterprises (NASDAQ:NSIT), and Systemax (NYSE:SYX), CDW's margins have exceeded theirs by wide, um, margins. And net profits have been uniformly consistent until the restructurings came home to roost last quarter. To help rebuild those margins while also expanding revenues, CDW acquired business consulting firm Berbee. Being able to steer a formidable list of clients Berbee's way -- customers like Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) -- might help it achieve its ambitious goal of doubling the consulting service's $400 million in revenues within five years.

Margin

12/05

03/06

06/06

09/06

12/06

Gross

15.4%

15.5%

15.7%

15.8%

15.8%

Operating

6.7%

6.6%

6.7%

6.7%

6.5%

Net

4.3%

4.3%

4.3%

4.3%

3.9%
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:
CDW has been lagging lately, in part because of a technology investment slowdown, but also because of its own business realignment. It will probably be some months -- maybe even late in the year -- before the company is back on track. While that might give current shareholders pause considering the slide the stock took after the fourth quarter, the fact that it still trades at a slight premium to many of its competitors might suggest there's more room for a pullback from here.

Related Foolishness:

CDW has earned a four-star rating from Motley Fool CAPS, the new investor intelligence community. You can add your voice to the new stock-rating service by joining today. It's free!

CDW is a recommendation of Motley Fool Stock Advisor.

Fool contributor Rich Duprey does not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article. You can see his holdings here. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.