Investors never know what to expect for American Greetings (NYSE: AM), as it has wavered between topping and missing analyst estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, June 29. American Greetings is engaged in the design, manufacture, and sale of everyday and seasonal greeting cards and other "social expression" products.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are very bullish on this stock; both analysts back it as a buy.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $409.3 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 3.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst is estimating earnings of 76 cents per share.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All Stars see AM as a decent bet, with 63% assigning it an "outperform" rating. A slight majority of Fools are in agreement with the All Stars as 55.7% give it an "outperform" rating. The message boards have been quiet lately, though, with only 94 posts in the past 30 days. American Greetings' bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
American Greetings' profit has risen year over year by an average of 34.3%. Revenue has fallen for the past three quarters.

Now 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 Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1
Gross Margin 57.6% 53.7% 57.5% 60.1%
Net Margin 3.7% 7.5% 2.5% 7.8%

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