IDEXX Laboratories Earnings Preview

Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that IDEXX Laboratories (Nasdaq: IDXX  ) will top analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Friday, July 22. Idexx Laboratories develops, manufactures and distributes products and provides services mainly for the veterinary and the production animal, water testing and dairy markets.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on IDEXX Laboratories with six of 10 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like IDEXX Laboratories as much as competitor Henry Schein overall. Eight out of 14 analysts rate Henry Schein a buy, compared to three of 10 for IDEXX Laboratories. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $308.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 9.6% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.72 per share. Estimates range from $0.67 to $0.75.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 98.7% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All Stars, with 95% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced IDEXX Laboratories, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 70 posts in the past 30 days. IDEXX Laboratories has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
IDEXX Laboratories' profit has risen year over year by an average of 12.2%. Revenue has now gone up for three straight 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 gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
Gross Margin	52.9%	51%	52.7%	53%
Operating Margin	18.3%	17.9%	18.5%	19.5%
Net Margin	12.5%	12.8%	12.9%	13.2%

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