Investors never know what to expect for Methode Electronics (NYSE: MEI), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Dec. 8. Methode Electronics designs, manufactures, and markets devices employing electrical, radio remote control, electronic, wireless, sensing, and optical technologies.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are very bullish on this stock, unanimously backing it as a buy. Methode Electronics' rating hasn't changed over the past three months.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $116 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 8.8% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.13 per share.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 100% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 92.6% giving it a rating of outperform. Fools have embraced Methode Electronics, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 62 posts in the past 30 days. Methode Electronics has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
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

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

18%

21.7%

19%

21.9%

Operating Margin

1.3%

4.8%

3.9%

2.2%

Net Margin

1.3%

8.4%

5.8%

(0.5%)

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.