Investors are hoping that Patterson-UTI Energy (Nasdaq: PTEN) will top analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, July 28. Patterson-UTI Energy is a provider of contract services to the North American oil and natural gas industry.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are bullish on this stock -- 18 analysts rate it as a buy and only one rates it as a sell. On balance, analysts still rate the stock a Moderate buy, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $587.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 91.2% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 48 cents per share. Estimates range from 43 cents to 54 cents.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 96.8% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All Stars with 94.7% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Patterson-UTI Energy and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 333 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Patterson-UTI Energy's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
The company increased its gross margin by 5.1 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 108.9% while cost of sales rose 92.4% to $339.3 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.

Quarter

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

40.2%

75.8%

39.8%

37.1%

Operating Margin

20.7%

35%

13.9%

14.9%

Net Margin

12.6%

19.9%

7.8%

9.6%

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