Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that Helen of Troy (Nasdaq: HELE) will top analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, July 7. Helen of Troy is a global designer, developer, importer, and distributor of a portfolio of brand-name consumer products. It has two segments: Personal Care and Housewares.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts don't like Helen of Troy as much as competitor Deer Consumer Products overall. One out of two analysts rate Deer Consumer Products a buy compared to one of three for Helen of Troy. Helen of Troy's rating hasn't changed over the past three months.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $260.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 62.5% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 79 cents per share. Estimates range from $0.78 to $0.79.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars see HELE as a good bet, with 72.7% granting it an "outperform" rating. The majority of the Fools are in agreement with the All-Stars as 75.2% give it an "outperform" rating. Fools are gung-ho about Helen of Troy, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 43 posts in the past 30 days. Helen of Troy's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Helen of Troy's profit has risen year over year by an average of 32.5%. Revenue has now gone up for three straight 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, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1
Gross Margin 43.8% 45.2% 45.9% 45.2%
Operating Margin 12.6% 15.4% 15.8% 14.2%
Net Margin 10.3% 13.2% 13.4% 11.5%

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