Tetra Tech Earnings Preview

After beating estimates last quarter by $0.03 cents, Tetra Tech (Nasdaq: TTEK  ) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Tetra Tech is a provider of consulting, engineering, program management, construction, and technical services focusing on resource management, infrastructure, and the environment.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Tetra Tech, with 10 out of 16 analysts rating it hold. 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 $478.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 13.6% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.40 per share. Estimates range from $0.39 to $0.41.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 98.3% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 97.1% awarding it a rating of outperform. Fools are gung-ho about Tetra Tech and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 124 posts in the past 30 days. Tetra Tech has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Tetra Tech's profit has risen year over year by an average of 17.4% 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	12.2%	12.2%	12.4%	13.1%
Operating Margin	5.8%	4.8%	5.6%	5.9%
Net Margin	3.5%	2.9%	3.6%	3.7%

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