PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings Thursday. PPG Industries makes coatings, glass, and chemical products.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on PPG Industries with eight of 12 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like PPG Industries as much as competitor FMC overall. Six out of seven analysts rate FMC a buy compared with four of 12 for PPG Industries. 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 $3.88 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 12.1% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.94 per share. Estimates range from $1.81 to $2.01.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 98.3% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars with 93.1% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on PPG Industries and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 133 posts in the past 30 days. PPG Industries has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
PPG Industries' profit has risen year over year by an average of more than twofold over the past five quarters. 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

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Gross Margin

39.4%

39.8%

38.3%

39.1%

Operating Margin

12.8%

11.0%

7.3%

10.1%

Net Margin

8.5%

6.5%

6.1%

7.6%

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