Sensient Technologies Earnings Preview

Watch Sensient Technologies' (NYSE: SXT  ) earnings report to see if it can beat analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings Friday. Sensient Technologies is a global manufacturer and marketer of colors, flavors, and fragrances.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Sensient Technologies while the remaining half rate the stock as a buy Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Sensient Technologies. Analysts don't like Sensient Technologies as much as competitor Kronos Worldwide overall. Four out of four analysts rate Kronos Worldwide a buy compared with two of four for Sensient Technologies. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from hold to moderate buy.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $372.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 9.3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.62 per share. Estimates range from $0.60 to $0.63.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 92.6% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 94.7% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Sensient Technologies, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 24 posts in the past 30 days. Sensient Technologies has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Sensient Technologies' profit has risen year over year by an average of 28.8% 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	31.6%	30.8%	30.1%	31.2%
Operating Margin	14.4%	12.5%	12.1%	14.0%
Net Margin	8.9%	7.6%	7.6%	8.6%

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