DineEquity (NYSE: DIN) will look to avoid missing estimates for the consecutive quarter when its earnings are released. The company will unveil its latest earnings Tuesday. DineEquity owns and operates two restaurant concepts: the Applebee's casual bar and grill chain, and IHOP in the industry's family dining category.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back DineEquity, with four of six rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like DineEquity better than competitor CBRL Group overall. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from hold to moderate buy.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $269.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 20.8% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.02 per share. Estimates range from $0.88 to $1.13.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are split on DineEquity, with 45.8% rating it an "outperform" and 54.2% giving it an "underperform" rating. Fools are skeptical of DineEquity and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 216 posts in the past 30 days. DineEquity's bearish CAPS rating of one out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Revenue has fallen in the past two 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

36.9%

33.4%

32.2%

31.8%

Operating Margin

13.7%

4.2%

6.0%

6.6%

Net Margin

9.9%

(17.0%)

4.3%

4.1%

For all our DineEquity-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add DineEquity to My Watchlist.

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