Tomorrow morning, it's time for an energy boost.

Yes, it's a second-quarter earnings report from caffeine-laced drink brewer Hansen Natural (NASDAQ:HANS), famous for its Monster Energy line of pick-me-uppers. This Fool just chugged a can of that potent potion to get ready for this near-term market review. Is it a fairy tale, or a scary story?

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or waffle? Seven dwarf analysts follow Snow White Hansen around, and five of them think this stock is a buy. The other two are holding their mining caps.
  • Revenues. $217.7 million of net sales would satisfy those thirsty analysts, at 39.5% above the $156 million year-ago result.
  • Earnings. The consensus forecast calls for $0.38 per share, up from $0.28 per share last year.

What management says:
This management team ain't talking much to the press these days. I'd expect that to change right about now, for reasons you'll see below. In short, some troubling times are now behind the company.

What management does:
You can see the rocketing growth rates slowing down to saner levels, as Hansen grows up and fills out the boots of a more mature business. With that comes other responsibilities, including new operational costs related to recently-signed distribution agreements, which is why the rock-steady gross margin hasn't projected into equally stable operational and net takes lately.

Margins

12/2005

3/2006

6/2006

9/2006

12/2006

3/2007

Gross

52.3%

52.7%

52.4%

52.2%

52.3%

52.0%

Operating

29.7%

30.7%

30.8%

28.8%

27.6%

25.2%

Net

18.0%

18.4%

18.4%

17.0%

16.2%

14.9%

Y-O-Y Growth

12/2005

3/2006

6/2006

9/2006

12/2006

3/2007

Revenue

93.5%

95.5%

92.9%

83.4%

73.6%

59.5%

Earnings

207.9%

177.4%

136.4%

82.3%

56.0%

29.4%
All data courtesy of Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Data reflects trailing-12-month performance for the quarters ended in the named months.

One Fool says:
Hansen only recently stepped up to the big boys on the Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Global Select market after toiling away on the smaller and less liquid Nasdaq Capital Market for many years. It's a serious upgrade from the pending delisting that was hanging over the company for a long time; that threat was dispelled by a special shareholder meeting that amended Hansen's stock options plans to include an errant grant to one director.

The actual average trading volume hasn't exactly skyrocketed after the exchange switch -- if anything, it has nosed down a bit. Perhaps that's simply pre-earnings softness, in which case we'd see a couple of high-volume days after the earnings release. For a frame of reference, the last report was followed by 12.4 million shares trading hands the next day, compared to an average of about 1.5 million.

That Nasdaq skip seems to gainsay the rumors that Hansen is preparing to be taken over by a larger player. Any of its current distribution partners would do -- Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD), PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP), or Cadbury Schweppes (NYSE:CSG). But then why go to the effort and expense to hop on over to the larger market? And besides, Cadbury is actually looking to sell its beverage brands.

No, don't expect an acquisition anytime soon. Hansen stands on its own two feet, and this seasonally-strong report should dig Hansen out of its recent slump. And don't forget that the stock has rewarded investors with a 37% return over the last 52 weeks. I think there's plenty of growth ahead of this little beverage maker, including new markets abroad. Who's the fairest of them all? It might just be Ms. Hansen.

Anheuser-Busch and Nasdaq are two of the current recommendations of our Motley Fool Inside Value newsletter service.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund is a Hansen shareholder who holds no other position in any of the companies discussed here. You can check out Anders' holdings if you like, and Foolish disclosure can wake you up like a triple shot of espresso, brewed from energy drinks.