Nordson (Nasdaq: NDSN) beat estimates by $0.05 last quarter and investors are hoping it can beat them again. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Feb. 23. Nordson is a manufacturer of equipment used for precision material dispensing, testing and inspection, surface preparation, and curing.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Nordson with five of eight analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Nordson as much as competitor Flow International overall. Two out of two analysts rate Flow International a buy compared to three of eight for Nordson. Analysts haven't adjusted their rating of Nordson for the past three months.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $274.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 1.2% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.60 per share. Estimates range from $0.55 to $0.64.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are in strong support of the stock, with 97.9% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large is in line with the All-Stars, with 95.1% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Even with a robust four out of five stars, Nordson's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Nordson's profit has risen year over year by an average of 44.3% over the past five quarters.

Now, a look at how efficient management has been at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. Nordson's gross margin, which reflect the total sales revenue retained after costs, have been rising year over year for the last four quarters. Here is how Nordson has been doing for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q4

Q3

Q2

Q1

Gross Margin

59.3%

60.2%

62.0%

61.3%

Operating Margin

23.8%

25.2%

29.0%

24.2%

Net Margin

16.5%

18.1%

20.5%

16.9%

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

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.