Investors are braced for a bumpy ride ahead of Taubman Centers' (NYSE: TCO) earnings announcement, as the company has wavered between beating and falling short of analyst predictions during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, July 19. Taubman Centers is engaged in the ownership, management, leasing, acquisition, disposition, development, and expansion of regional and super-regional retail shopping centers.
What analysts say:
- Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Taubman Centers, with nine of 12 analysts rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Taubman Centers as much as competitor Weingarten Realty Investors overall. Seven out of 14 analysts rate Weingarten Realty Investors a buy, compared with three of 12 for Taubman Centers. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared with three months ago.
- Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $150.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 2.3% from the year-ago quarter.
- Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.61 per share. Estimates range from $0.57 to $0.65.
What our community says:
Most CAPS All-Stars are skeptical of Taubman Centers' prospects, with 70.6% giving it an "underperform" rating. Like the All-Stars, the community is also not a fan of Taubman Centers, with 69.2% awarding it an "underperform" rating. Fools are bearish on Taubman Centers, and the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 54 posts in the past 30 days. Taubman Centers' bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community's sentiment.
Management:
Taubman Centers' profit has risen year over year by an average of 73.6%. The company's revenue has now risen for two 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 net margins over the past four quarters.
| Quarter | Q1 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 |
| Net Margin | 9.5% | 19.3% | 3.1% | 7.4% |
