URS Earnings Preview

If URS (NYSE: URS  ) misses estimates again it will be the third consecutive quarter for the company. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, Nov. 8. URS is an international provider of engineering, construction, and technical services.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on URS with seven of 13 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like URS as much as competitor AECOM Technology overall. Eleven out of 13 analysts rate AECOM Technology a buy compared to five of 13 for URS. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $2.57 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 9.8% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.99 per share. Estimates range from $0.90 to $1.07.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 97.3% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 94.6% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced URS and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 106 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, URS' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
URS' profit has risen year over year by an average of 14.8% 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	5.6%	5.0%	4.9%	8.7%
Operating Margin	6.4%	5.7%	5.1%	6.9%
Net Margin	2.8%	2.7%	2.5%	3.0%

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