Drew Industries Earnings Preview

Investors never know what to expect from Drew Industries (NYSE: DW  ) , as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings Wednesday. Drew Industries manufactures an array of components for recreational vehicles and manufactured homes.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Drew Industries, with two of three rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Drew Industries better than competitor Winnebago Industries overall. 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 $157.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 7.4% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.36 per share. Estimates range from $0.35 to $0.39.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 96.5% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 91.7% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Drew Industries and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 120 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Drew Industries' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Drew Industries' profit has risen year over year by an average of 15.3% 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	22.6%	22.4%	21.7%	21.7%
Operating Margin	9.6%	9.2%	4.3%	8.6%
Net Margin	5.9%	5.6%	2.9%	5.4%

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

Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Drew Industries. 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.