Integra LifeSciences Holdings Earnings Preview

Integra LifeSciences Holdings (Nasdaq: IART  ) beat estimates by one cent last quarter and investors are hoping it can beat them again. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Oct. 31. Integra LifeSciences is a medical device company, which is engaged in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of cost-effective surgical implants and medical instruments.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Integra LifeSciences while the remaining half rate the stock as a buy. Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Integra LifeSciences. Analysts like Integra LifeSciences better than competitor Wright Medical Group, Inc. overall. Six out of 16 analysts rate Wright Medical Group, Inc. a buy compared to nine of 18 for Integra LifeSciences. Analysts haven't adjusted their rating of Integra LifeSciences for the past three months.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $204.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 9.4% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.77 per share. Estimates range from $0.74 to $0.79.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 94.1% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 93.5% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Integra LifeSciences, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 35 posts in the past 30 days. Integra LifeSciences has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Integra LifeSciences' income has fallen year over year by an average of 21.5% 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	62.3%	64.1%	63.3%	62.9%
Operating Margin	4.1%	11.5%	12.4%	14.6%
Net Margin	0.4%	6.3%	9.7%	8.8%

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