Superior Industries International Earnings Preview

After beating estimates last quarter by $0.17, Superior Industries International (NYSE: SUP  ) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Friday, Oct. 28. Superior Industries is engaged in the design and manufacture of aluminum road wheels for sale to original equipment manufacturers.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Superior Industries with two of three analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Superior Industries as much as competitor Fuel Systems Solutions overall. Three out of six analysts rate Fuel Systems Solutions a buy compared to one of three for Superior Industries. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained steadfast in their opinion of the stock.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $192.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 5% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.34 per share. Estimates range from $0.31 to $0.38.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars see Superior Industries as a good bet, with 75% granting it an "outperform" rating. The majority of the Fools are in agreement with the All-Stars as 83.5% give it an "outperform" rating. Fools are keen on Superior Industries, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 42 posts in the past 30 days. The CAPS rating of five out of five stars for Superior Industries is far more upbeat than the community assessment.

Management:
Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by five percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 7.3% while cost of sales rose 13.5% to $189.2 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	Q2	Q1	Q4	Q3
Gross Margin	9.4%	8.9%	15.2%	10.7%
Operating Margin	6.2%	5.4%	11.2%	6.2%
Net Margin	7.0%	4.2%	11.7%	5.7%

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

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