Corporate Executive Board Earnings Preview

Corporate Executive Board (NYSE: EXBD  ) hasn't been able to establish an earnings trend, bouncing between beating and falling short of estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Aug. 1. Corporate Executive Board helps improve decision-making among a global network of executives and business professionals and provides its members with guidance to elevate company performance and excel in their careers.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Corporate Executive Board, with four of seven analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Corporate Executive Board better than competitor Korn/Ferry International overall. Two out of seven analysts rate Korn/Ferry International a buy, compared with three of seven for Corporate Executive Board. Corporate Executive Board's rating hasn't changed over the past three months.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $120.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 10% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.37 per share. Estimates range from $0.36 to $0.40.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 97.6% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 93.2% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Corporate Executive Board and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 143 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Corporate Executive Board's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Corporate Executive Board's profit has risen year over year by an average of 12.3%. 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	64.8%	63.3%	64.3%	64.2%
Operating Margin	15.5%	14.5%	7.4%	18%
Net Margin	9.9%	9.2%	6.2%	10%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Corporate Executive Board's movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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