Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that Barnes Group (NYSE: B) will top analyst expectations for the third consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Friday. Barnes Group is an international logistical services company and aerospace and industrial components manufacturer serving a range of end markets and customers.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Barnes Group with four of six analysts rating it hold. Analysts' rating of Barnes Group has stayed constant from three months prior.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $311.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 10.1% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.32 per share. Estimates range from $0.31 to $0.35.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 95.7% assigning it an outperform rating. Most of the community concurs with the All-Stars, with 92.1% giving it a rating of outperform. Fools have embraced Barnes Group and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 107 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Barnes Group's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Barnes Group's profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 62.9% over the past five quarters.

Now let's get some insight into how efficient management is at running the business. Margins are a representation of how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. The company's operating margins have been increasing year-over-year for the last four quarters. Operating margins reflect the total sales revenue that the company retains after costs. Here are Barnes Group's reported margins for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

35.2%

36.8%

36.3%

35.3%

Operating Margin

10.1%

10.2%

9.2%

6.5%

Net Margin

7.1%

6.8%

6.0%

4.1%

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

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.