Mettler-Toledo International Earnings Preview

Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE: MTD  ) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, July 28. Mettler-Toledo International is the supplier of precision instruments and services for use in laboratory, industrial and food retailing applications.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Mettler-Toledo International, with six of 10 rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from hold to moderate buy.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $533.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 13.9% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.86 per share. Estimates range from $1.83 to $1.89.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 98.4% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 94.2% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Mettler-Toledo International, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 30 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Mettler-Toledo International's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Mettler-Toledo International's profit has risen year over year by an average of 43.7%.

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	52.4%	53.4%	52.2%	52.6%
Operating Margin	12.8%	19.1%	15.7%	15.0%
Net Margin	9.4%	13.6%	12.7%	11.0%

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