Basic Energy Services Earnings Preview

Investors braced for a bumpy ride ahead of Basic Energy Services' (NYSE: BAS) earnings announcement, for 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 Thursday, July 21. Basic Energy Services provides a range of well site services to oil and gas drilling and producing companies, including well servicing, fluid services, well site construction services, completion and remedial services, and contract drilling.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are bullish on this stock with nine analysts rating it as a buy and only one rating it as a sell. Analysts like Basic Energy Services better than competitor Helix Energy Solutions Group overall. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from Hold to Moderate buy.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $289.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 65.3% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.46 per share. Estimates range from $0.35-$0.51.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly behind the stock with 94.9% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All Stars with 92% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Basic Energy Services and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 113 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Basic Energy Services, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Basic Energy Services' income has fallen year over year by an average of 54.8%. The company raised its gross margin by 10.7 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 72.1% while cost of sales rose 47.2% to $156.1 million from a year earlier.

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.

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Basic Energy Services movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.