Investors never know what to expect for Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Jan. 5. Texas Industries is a supplier of heavy construction materials in the United States.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Texas Industries, with seven out of 10 analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Texas Industries better than competitor USG overall. One out of 12 analysts rate USG a buy compared to one out of 10 for Texas Industries.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $154.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 4.6% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is a loss of $0.61 per share. Estimates range from a loss of $0.81 to a loss of $0.48.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 83.3% awarding it an outperform rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 81.7% assigning it a rating of outperform. Fools are gung-ho about Texas Industries, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 56 posts in the past 30 days. Texas Industries' bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Over the last four quarters, revenue has increased 3.9% on average year over year.

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

7.6%

3.7%

(7.4%)

8.1%

Operating Margin

(2.2%)

(10.2%)

(21.2%)

(4.4%)

Net Margin

(4.1%)

(5.2%)

(16.6%)

(7.6%)

For all our Texas Industries-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add Texas Industries to My Watchlist.

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.