Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, July 27. Affymetrix develops, manufactures, and sells products and services for genetic analysis to the life science research and clinical health-care markets.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Affymetrix, with 10 of 14 analysts rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Affymetrix as much as competitor Bio-Rad Laboratories overall. Four out of five analysts rate Bio-Rad Laboratories a buy, compared with two of 14 for Affymetrix.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $65.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 9.1% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is a loss of $0.04 per share. Estimates range from a loss of $0.08 to a profit of $0.01.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 90.3% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 84% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Affymetrix and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 210 posts in the past 30 days. Affymetrix's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community's sentiment.

Management:
Revenue has fallen for the past three 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 63.2% 58.1% 54.7% 56.6%
Operating Margin 4.3% 6.1% (2.7%) (7.9%)
Net Margin 0.1% 4.7% 1.3% (7.7%)
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