Investors never know what to expect for Herman Miller (Nasdaq: MLHR), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, September 22. Herman Miller is engaged in the research, design, manufacture, and distribution of office furniture systems, products, and related services.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Herman Miller while the remaining half rate the stock as a buy. Analysts don't like Herman Miller as much as competitor Steelcase overall. Four out of four analysts rate Steelcase a buy compared to two of four for Herman Miller. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained steadfast in their opinion of the stock.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $444.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 16.8% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 33 cents per share. Estimates range from 30 cents to 35 cents.

What our community says:
 CAPS All Stars are solidly behind the stock with 97.8% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All Stars with 91.5% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Herman Miller, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 61 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Herman Miller's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
 Herman Miller's profit has risen year over year by an average of more than threefold 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.

Quarter

Q4

Q3

Q2

Q1

Gross Margin

33%

32.1%

32.9%

32.5%

Operating Margin

7.1%

7.5%

7.6%

7.7%

Net Margin

3.9%

4.8%

4.3%

4.2%

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