Herman Miller (Nasdaq: MLHR) met its estimates last quarter, but investors hope that it will beat them this quarter. The company -- which is engaged in the research, design, manufacture, and distribution of office-furniture systems, products, and related services.-- will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday. 

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are a bit more wary about the stock compared with three months ago. Half of them rate the stock a buy, and the other half rate it a hold. But they also like Herman Miller better than competitor HNI (NYSE: HNI) overall, with one out of five analysts rating HNI a buy compared with two of four for Herman Miller.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $418 million in revenue this quarter, a 30% increase from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimates earnings of $0.26 per share. Estimates range from $0.25 to $0.27.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars solidly back the stock, with 97.9% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 88.8% also granting it an "outperform." But even though Fools are keen on Herman Miller, the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 61 posts in the past 30 days. Herman Miller's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars also falls short of the Fool community's sentiment.

Management:
The company has now seen net income and revenue rise in three straight quarters. 

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 table shows gross and net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter Q3 Q2 Q1 Q4
Gross Margin 32.1% 32.9% 32.5% 32.8%
Net Margin 4.8% 4.3% 4.2% 0.7%
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