Toro Company Earnings Preview

Toro Company (NYSE: TTC  ) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fourth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, August 18. Toro Company designs, manufactures, and markets professional turf maintenance equipment and services, turf and agricultural micro-irrigation systems, landscaping equipment, and residential yard and snow removal products.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Toro Company, with three of five analysts rating it hold. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $493.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 7.6% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.15 per share. Estimates range from $1.12 to $1.20.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 96.6% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All Stars, with 93.7% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Toro Company, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 50 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Toro Company's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Toro Company's income has fallen year over year by an average of more than twofold over the past five 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:

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