Corn Products International Earnings Preview

While Corn Products International (NYSE: CPO  ) missed estimates last quarter, investors hope that it will bounce back and outpace Wall Street expectations this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday. Corn Products International, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells a number of ingredients to a variety of food and industrial customers.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Corn Products International, with six of nine rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Corn Products International as much as competitor SunOpta overall. Analysts still rate the stock a moderate buy, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $1.57 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 53.9% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.10 per share. Estimates range from $1 to $1.21.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 88.3% awarding it an outperform rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 93.3% granting it a rating of outperform. Fools are keen on Corn Products International and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 109 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Corn Products International, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Corn Products International's profit has risen year over year by an average of 82.9% 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	17.2%	20.4%	17.5%	16.8%
Operating Margin	8.5%	15.6%	7.3%	8.7%
Net Margin	5.0%	10.5%	3.7%	3.6%

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized service. Add Corn Products International now.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.