New York Community Bancorp Earnings Preview

New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYB  ) met its estimates last quarter, but investors hope that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, Jan. 25. New York Community Bancorp is the holding company for New York Community Bank and New York Commercial Bank, which produce multifamily loans in New York City.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on New York Community Bancorp, with 10 out of 19 analysts rating it hold. Analysts like New York Community Bancorp better than competitor Hudson City Bancorp overall. One out of 16 analysts rate Hudson City Bancorp a buy compared to eight out of 19 for New York Community Bancorp. 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 $295.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.27 per share. Estimates range from $0.25 to $0.31.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 95.5% awarding it an outperform rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 94.4% giving it a rating of outperform. Fools are bullish on New York Community Bancorp and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 103 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, New York Community Bancorp's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
New York Community Bancorp's income has fallen year over year by an average of 7.8% over the past five quarters. Revenue has fallen for the past three 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 net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter	Q3	Q2	Q1	Q4
Net Margin	23%	21.9%	23.3%	25.2%

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized service. Add New York Community Bancorp now.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.