After beating estimates last quarter by $0.05, Monarch Casino & Resort (Nasdaq: MCRI) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Feb. 20. Monarch Casino & Resort, with its subsidiary, owns and operates the tropically themed Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, a hotel/casino facility in Reno, Nevada.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Monarch Casino & Resort while the remaining half rate the stock a buy. Analysts don't like Monarch Casino & Resort as much as competitor Century Casinos overall. Two out of two analysts rate Century Casinos a buy compared to one out of two for Monarch Casino & Resort. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from hold to moderate buy.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $33.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 0.2% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.05 per share. Estimates range from$0.04 to $0.07.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly supporting the stock, with 93.3% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 79.5% giving it a rating of outperform. Fools are gung-ho about Monarch Casino & Resort, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 46 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Monarch Casino & Resort, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Monarch Casino & Resort's profit has risen year over year by an average of 89.3% over the past five 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

52.8%

54.8%

50.9%

49.8%

Operating Margin

0.4%

15.3%

8.0%

2.8%

Net Margin

0%

9.6%

4.6%

1.4%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.