Boston Beer Company Earnings Preview

Boston Beer Company (NYSE: SAM) hasn't been able to establish an earnings trend, bouncing between beating and falling short of estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, August 2. Boston Beer Company, Inc. is engaged in the business of selling low-alcohol beverages throughout the United States and in selected international markets, under the trade names The Boston Beer Company, Twisted Tea Brewing Company, and HardCore Cider Company.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts generally think investors should hang on to Boston Beer Company, with half rating the stock a hold. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $139.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 7.7% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.21 per share. Estimates range from $1.16 to $1.26.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 98.1% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All Stars with 96.4% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Boston Beer Company and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 405 posts in the past 30 days. Boston Beer Company has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Boston Beer Company's profit has risen year over year by an average of 27.9%. 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:

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