While Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS) missed estimates last quarter, investors hope that it will bounce back and outpace Wall Street expectations this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, June 28. Progress Software is a supplier of application infrastructure software and services for the development, deployment, integration, and management of business applications.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are very bullish on this stock, unanimously backing it as a buy. Analysts like Progress Software better than competitor Tibco Software overall. Five out of nine analysts rate Tibco Software a buy, compared to three of three for Progress Software. 
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $134.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 4.5% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst is estimating earnings of 34 cents per share. Estimates range from 33 cents to 34 cents.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are behind the stock with 76.5% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All Stars with 80% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools may like Progress Software, but the message boards have been quiet lately with only 21 posts in the past 30 days. Progress Software's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Progress Software's income has fallen year over year by an average of more than fivefold. Revenue has now gone up for 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 following table shows gross and net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter Q1 Q4 Q3 Q2
Gross Margin 82% 82.5% 80.8% 80.2%
Net Margin 15.3% 14.7% 7.2% 14.9%

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