MarineMax Earnings Preview

Investors never know what to expect for MarineMax (NYSE: HZO  ) , as it has wavered between topping and missing analyst estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings Monday. MarineMax is a recreational boat dealer in the United States.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on MarineMax while the remaining half rate the stock as a buy. Analysts don't like MarineMax as much as competitor Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack overall. Four out of six analysts rate Pep Boys a buy compared with two of four for MarineMax. Analysts' rating of MarineMax has stayed constant from three months prior.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $140.9 million 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 a loss of $0.01 per share. Estimates range from a loss of $0.07 to a profit of $0.10.

What our community says:
Most CAPS All-Stars are skeptical of MarineMax's prospects, with 60% awarding it an "underperform" rating. The Fool community, on the other hand, likes it with 56.1% assigning it an "overperform" rating. Fools are skeptical of MarineMax, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 52 posts in the past 30 days. MarineMax's bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
The company's revenue has now risen for two straight quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by 4.4 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 32.8% while cost of sales rose 41.1% to $114.1 million from a year earlier.

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	Q3	Q2	Q1	Q4
Gross Margin	25.5%	23.1%	25.6%	24.2%
Operating Margin	2.5%	(3.2%)	(4.2%)	(1.0%)
Net Margin	2.2%	(3.9%)	(5.1%)	(1.5%)

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on MarineMax movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your watchlist.

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