International Rectifier (NYSE: IRF) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, August 17. International Rectifier designs, manufactures and markets power management semiconductors.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on International Rectifier while the remaining half rate the stock as a buy. Analysts like International Rectifier better than competitor Fairchild Semiconductor International overall. Six out of 13 analysts rate Fairchild Semiconductor International a buy compared to three of six for International Rectifier. While analysts still rate the stock a Moderate buy, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $315.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 19.6% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 52 cents per share. Estimates range from 51 cents to 53 cents.

What our community says:
 CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 88.3% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All Stars with 90.2% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced International Rectifier, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 68 posts in the past 30 days. International Rectifier's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
 International Rectifier's income has fallen year over year by an average of 50.9% over the past five quarters. The company raised its gross margin by 3.4 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 22.7% while cost of sales rose 16.1% to $179.5 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

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

39.5%

43%

38.7%

36.1%

Operating Margin

14%

15.8%

11.3%

8.4%

Net Margin

16.7%

15.6%

11.9%

11%

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