KBR Earnings Preview

KBR (NYSE: KBR  ) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Oct. 27. KBR is a global engineering, construction, and services company supporting the energy, hydrocarbon, government services, minerals, civil infrastructure, power, and industrial sectors.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back KBR, with nine of 11 rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like KBR better than competitor Jacobs Engineering Group 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 $2.45 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 0.4% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.68 per share. Estimates range from $0.56 to $0.79.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 96.2% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 94.9% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about KBR and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 198 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, KBR's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
KBR's profit has risen year over year by an average of 40.6% over the past five quarters. Revenue has fallen for the past three 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	7.7%	6.3%	7.2%	8.0%
Operating Margin	7.0%	6.3%	6.4%	6.7%
Net Margin	4.1%	4.6%	3.4%	4.0%

For all our KBR-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add KBR to My Watchlist.

The Steve Jobs Betrayal
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

Enter your email address below to find out what made Jobs so enraged!

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.