Pool Earnings Preview

After beating estimates last quarter by $0.07, Pool (Nasdaq: POOL  ) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday. SCP Pool Inc. sells swimming pool equipment, parts and supplies, and irrigation and landscape products to pool builders, retail stores, service companies, landscape contractors, and golf courses.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Pool with seven of 10 analysts rating it hold. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $684.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 5.7% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.15 per share. Estimates range from $1.11 to $1.19.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars see Pool as a good bet, with 71.1% giving it an outperform rating. The majority of the Fools are in agreement with the All-Stars as 68.4% give it an outperform rating. Fools are bullish on Pool and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 111 posts in the past 30 days. Pool's bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Pool's income has fallen year over year by an average of more than twofold. 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	29.2%	30.5%	28.8%	29.4%
Operating Margin	0.2%	(7.0%)	8.1%	13.7%
Net Margin	(0.2%)	(4.9%)	5.0%	8.2%

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