Matthews International (Nasdaq: MATW) beat estimates by one cent last quarter and investors are hoping it can beat them again. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Nov. 10. Matthews International is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer principally of memorialization products and brand solutions.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are very bullish on this stock, unanimously backing it as a buy. Analysts haven't adjusted their rating of Matthews International for the past three months.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $232.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 8.4% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.70 per share. Estimates range from $0.67 to $0.72.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 100% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 100% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Matthews International, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 35 posts in the past 30 days. Matthews International has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Matthews International's profit has risen year over year by an average of 9.8% 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

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

100.0%

40.0%

38.5%

40.6%

Operating Margin

15.2%

12.9%

10.6%

15.3%

Net Margin

9.4%

7.5%

6.4%

9.2%

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