Meridian Bioscience Earnings Preview

Meridian Bioscience (Nasdaq: VIVO  ) didn't hit the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors hope that it will rebound this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Nov. 10. Meridian Bioscience is a life science company engaged in the development, manufacture, and distribution of diagnostic test kits, bulk antigens, antibodies, reagents, proteins and other biologicals.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Meridian Bioscience. Analysts don't like Meridian Bioscience as much as competitor Quidel overall. Five out of 11 analysts rate Quidel a buy compared to five of 12 for Meridian Bioscience. 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 $42.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 18.5% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.19 per share. Estimates range from $0.17 to $0.24.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 99.3% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars with 97.9% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Meridian Bioscience and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 129 posts in the past 30 days. Meridian Bioscience has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Meridian Bioscience's income has fallen year over year by an average of 11.3% over the past five quarters. The company's revenue has now risen for two 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	63.5%	63.9%	63.4%	59.3%
Operating Margin	25.3%	26.7%	24.4%	23.9%
Net Margin	17.1%	17.7%	16.2%	15.0%

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