After beating estimates last quarter by $0.02, Acxiom (Nasdaq: ACXM) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, July 27. Acxiom provides marketing technology and services that enable marketers to successfully manage audiences, personalize consumer experiences, and create profitable customer relationships.
What analysts say:
- Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Acxiom, with three of five rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Acxiom as much as competitor RightNow Technologies overall. Analysts' rating of Acxiom has stayed constant from three months prior.
- Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $276.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 2.3% from the year-ago quarter.
- Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.13 per share. Estimates range from $0.11 to $0.14.
What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 84.4% giving it an "outperform" rating. The majority of the Fools are in agreement with the All-Stars, as 68.6% give it an "outperform" rating. Fools are gung-ho about Acxiom, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 36 posts in the past 30 days. Acxiom's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community's sentiment.
Management:
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 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 |
| Gross Margin | 25.2% | 24.2% | 23.2% | 22.2% |
| Operating Margin | (17.8%) | 11.6% | 9.4% | 8.2% |
| Net Margin | (22.4%) | 7% | 4.6% | 3.6% |
