Looking forward to the weekend? Getting antsy waiting for the hickory dickory dock to strike five? Or is there perhaps another reason you're standing there, shuffling your feet?

Ah, I get it. You're an investor in Shuffle Master (NASDAQ:SHFL), and all you'll be able to think about this weekend is that there are still two more days of waiting before your company reports its fiscal Q1 2006 numbers. We here at the Fool empathize. And to help you while away the hours before the news comes out, we've put together a few facts and figures to ensure that, once it does, you'll know what to make of it.

Wall Street Wisdom:

  • General consensus. Eight out of 10 analysts surveyed think Shuffle Master's a buy. The two dissenters still call it a hold.
  • Revenues. Fiscal Q1 sales are believed to have beaten last year's numbers by 22%, rising to $31 million.
  • Earnings. Analysts believe that profits more than kept pace with sales growth, rising 24% to $0.21 per share.

Margin watch:
Let's hope the analysts know what they're talking about. Because over the past 18 months, Shuffle Master has been on a bit of a losing streak, margins-wise. Rolling gross, operating, and net margins have all slid substantially, leaving the company 12% less profitable at last report than it was back in July 2004.

Margins %

7/04

10/04

1/05

4/05

7/05

10/05

Gross

79.0

77.1

76.4

75.2

74.8

74.1

Op.

42.6

42.7

42.2

41.3

41.2

39.4

Net

29.5

28.5

25.8

25.4

26.1

25.9
All data courtesy of Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Data reflects trailing-12-month performance for the quarters ending in the named months.

Foolish forensics:
The greatest toll has been taken on gross margins, where a 47% increase in the cost of goods sold over the past six months far outpaced the firm's 22% increase in sales. Absent significant one-time charges further down the income statement, it seems this increase in COGS is also the main culprit in Shuffle Master's operating and net margin erosion.

Foolish lookout:
Shuffle Master has been keeping busy. On Feb. 1, it announced the completion of its acquisition of Australian outfit Stargames. A week before that, Shuffle Master announced it had acquired a 26% interest in the capital of a small wireless data company called Sona Mobile, which trades over the counter.

I suspect this latter deal has something to do with Shuffle Master's new interest in broadcasting. But the $3 million deal, entered into while Shuffle Master is still burdened with debt from the Stargames deal -- and carrying less cash on its balance sheet than at any time since January 2004 -- does seem likely to raise eyebrows. Fools might want to spend even more time than usual examining the company's balance sheet and interest coverage ratios when earnings are released on Monday.

Shuffle Master is a Stock Advisor pick. Stop shuffling and take the newsletter for a30-day free spin.

Fool contributor Rich Smith has no interest, short or long, in any company named above.