Kaman Earnings Preview

Watch Kaman's (Nasdaq: KAMN  ) earnings report to see if it can beat analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Kaman conducts business in the aerospace and industrial distribution markets.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Kaman, with seven of eight rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Kaman better than competitor RBC Bearings overall. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained steady in their opinion of the stock.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $385.8 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 7.3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.52 per share. Estimates range from $0.48 to $0.56.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 100% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 94% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Kaman, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 40 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Kaman, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Kaman's profit has risen year over year by an average of more than threefold over the past five 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	27.6%	27.6%	29.6%	26.1%
Operating Margin	6.0%	6.2%	7.5%	5.4%
Net Margin	3.5%	3.6%	4.0%	4.4%

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized service. Add Kaman now.

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.