While Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM) missed estimates last quarter, investors hope that it will bounce back and outpace Wall Street expectations this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials is a producer of aggregates for the construction industry, including infrastructure, commercial, agricultural and residential.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Martin Marietta Materials with nine of 16 analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Martin Marietta Materials better than competitor Vulcan Materials Company overall. Two out of 16 analysts rate Vulcan Materials Company a buy compared with five of 16 for Martin Marietta Materials. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared with three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $508.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 0.7% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.07 per share. Estimates range from $0.96 to $1.21.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 94.5% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 88.3% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Martin Marietta Materials, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 67 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Martin Marietta Materials, 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

5.9%

16.6%

22.3%

23.3%

Operating Margin

(1.7%)

8.1%

16.5%

18.0%

Net Margin

(4.9%)

3.5%

10.2%

10.8%

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