Louisiana-Pacific Earnings Preview

Investors never know what to expect for Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE: LPX  ) , as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings Friday. Louisiana-Pacific manufactures building products, operating in three segments: oriented strand board, siding, and engineered wood products.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Louisiana-Pacific, with eight of 13 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Louisiana-Pacific as much as competitor Universal Forest Products overall. One out of four analysts rate Universal Forest Products a buy compared with three of 13 for Louisiana-Pacific.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $356.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 20.3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is a loss of $0.16 per share. Estimates range from a loss of $0.22 to a loss of $0.07.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 91.5% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 85.1% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Louisiana-Pacific, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 89 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Louisiana-Pacific, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
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	11.1%	11%	9.7%	22.5%
Operating Margin	(5.5%)	(5.6%)	(4.9%)	10.9%
Net Margin	(6.9%)	(2.1%)	(9.9%)	5%

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

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