Watch Cubist Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: CBST) earnings report to see whether it can beat analyst expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday. Cubist Pharmaceuticals is focused on the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs in the acute care environment.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold? The majority of analysts -- 68.4% -- back Cubist Pharmaceuticals as a buy. Analysts like Cubist Pharmaceuticals better than competitor Medicines Company overall. Four out of seven analysts rate Medicines Company a buy compared to 13 of 19 for Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Analysts still rate the stock a moderate buy, but they are a bit more wary about it compared with three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $174.8 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 3.7% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 41 cents per share. Estimates range from 27 cents to 52 cents.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly behind the stock with 95.7% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All Stars with 94.9% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Cubist Pharmaceuticals and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 113 posts in the past 30 days.

Management:
Cubist Pharmaceuticals' profit has risen year over year by an average of 4%. Over the last four quarters, revenue has increased 12.9% on average year over year.

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

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

77.5%

78%

77.2%

78.4%

Operating Margin

27.2%

28.7%

32.2%

31.9%

Net Margin

13.9%

9%

19.3%

16.7%

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