J2 Global Communications Earnings Preview

Watch j2 Global Communications' (Nasdaq: JCOM  ) earnings report to see if it can beat analyst expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, August 2. It provides outsourced, value-added messaging and communications services to individuals and businesses throughout the world.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back j2 Global Communications, with six of 10 rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts don't like j2 Global Communications as much as competitor Vonage Holdings overall. 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 $83.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 36.9% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.54 per share. Estimates range from $0.51 to $0.57.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 98.9% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All Stars, with 95.2% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on j2 Global Communications and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 128 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, j2 Global Communications' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Profit has risen year over year by an average of 49.4% for j2 Global Communications. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by 4.5 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 21.7% while cost of sales rose 53.8% to $15.8 million from a year earlier.

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	78.5%	82.1%	82.9%	83.1%
Operating Margin	31.4%	37.1%	43.4%	42.2%
Net Margin	42.2%	37.8%	31.6%	30.5%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on j2 Global Communications movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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