NCR (NYSE: NCR) beat estimates by $0.04 last quarter and investors are hoping it can beat them again. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday. NCR is a global technology company that provides solutions for industries including financial services, retail and hospitality, travel and gaming, health care and public sector, entertainment and software, and technology services.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back NCR, with six of nine rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like NCR better than competitor Diebold 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 $1.37 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 13.2% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.48 per share. Estimates range from $0.45 to $0.52.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 91.9% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars with 92.3% giving it a rating of outperform. Fools are bullish on NCR and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 110 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, NCR's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
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

20.6%

19.2%

20.3%

20.4%

Operating Margin

3.6%

0.5%

3.7%

2.8%

Net Margin

2.5%

1.2%

2.8%

6.9%

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

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