Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the third consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, July 19. Waste Connections is an integrated solid-waste services company that provides solid-waste collection, transfer, disposal, and recycling services in mostly secondary markets in the western and southern United States.
What analysts say:
- Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are very bullish on this stock, unanimously backing it as a buy. They like Waste Connections better than competitor IESI-BFC overall. Ten out of 12 analysts rate IESI-BFC a buy, compared with six of six for Waste Connections.
- Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $382.8 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 15.8% from the year-ago quarter.
- Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.38 per share. Estimates range from $0.37 to $0.39.
What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 98.4% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 95.3% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Waste Connections, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 48 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Waste Connections' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.
Management:
Waste Connections' profit has risen year over year by an average of 27%. 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 | Q1 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 |
| Gross Margin | 43.6% | 43% | 44% | 43.3% |
| Operating Margin | 20.7% | 20.2% | 21.9% | 21% |
| Net Margin | 11% | 10.8% | 11.9% | 9.2% |
