Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that Lincoln Electric Holdings (Nasdaq: LECO) will top analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, July 21. Lincoln Electric Holdings is a manufacturer & reseller of welding and cutting products. Welding products include arc welding power sources, wire feeding systems, robotic welding packages, fume extraction equipment, consumable electrodes and fluxes.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts generally think investors should hang on to Lincoln Electric Holdings, with half rating the stock a hold. 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 $632.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 22.7% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate calls for earnings of $0.55 per share. Estimates range from $0.52 to $0.59.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 100% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All Stars with 98% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Lincoln Electric Holdings, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 85 posts in the past 30 days. Lincoln Electric Holdings has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Lincoln Electric Holdings' profit has risen year over year by an average of more than twofold.

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

26.9%

26.2%

27.7%

28.8%

Operating Margin

9.9%

9.3%

9.3%

9.9%

Net Margin

7.8%

7.4%

6.3%

6.3%

For all our Lincoln Electric Holdings-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add Lincoln Electric Holdings to My Watchlist.

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