Cirrus Logic Earnings Preview

Investors never know what to expect for Cirrus Logic (Nasdaq: CRUS), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, July 21. Cirrus Logic develops high-precision analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) for a range of audio and energy markets.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Cirrus Logic, with three of five rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Cirrus Logic better than competitor Intersil overall. That rating hasn't budged in three months, as analysts have remained steady in their opinion of the stock.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $91.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 11.7% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.21 per share. Estimates range from $0.20 to $0.23.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 97% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 96.7% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Cirrus Logic and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 181 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Cirrus Logic's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Cirrus Logic's gross margin shrank by 6 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 46% while cost of sales rose 66% to $45.4 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.