Washington Federal Earnings Preview

Washington Federal (Nasdaq: WFSL  ) didn't hit the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors hope that it will rebound this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold? Analysts back Washington Federal, with eight of 14 rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. But analysts don't like Washington Federal as much as competitor Kaiser Federal Financial Group overall. While analysts still rate the stock a moderate buy, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $100.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 1.1% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 25 cents per share. Estimates range from 20 cents to 29 cents.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 87% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The majority of Fools are in agreement with the All Stars -- 67.7% give it an "outperform" rating. Fools are keen on Washington Federal, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 23 posts in the past 30 days. The bullish CAPS rating of four out of five stars for Washington Federal highlights Fool enthusiasm for the company.

Management:
Washington Federal's profit has risen year over year by an average of 79.4%. Revenue has fallen for the past three quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter	Q2	Q1	Q4	Q3
Net Margin	15.1%	14.4%	18.8%	7.3%

For all our Washington Federal-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add Washington Federal to My Watchlist.

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