NTELOS Holdings Earnings Preview

If NTELOS Holdings (Nasdaq: NTLS) misses estimates again it will be the fourth consecutive quarter for the company. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, August 1. The company, through NTELOS Inc. and its subsidiaries, is an integrated communications provider that offers a range of products and services to businesses, telecommunications carriers, and residential customers in Virginia, West Virginia, and surrounding states.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back NTELOS Holdings, with six of eight rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like NTELOS Holdings better than competitor Shenandoah Telecommunications Company overall. 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 $155.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 17.6% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.35 per share. Estimates range from $0.32 to $0.38.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 100% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All Stars, with 96% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on NTELOS Holdings, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 42 posts in the past 30 days. NTELOS Holdings has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
NTELOS Holdings' income has fallen year over year by an average of 25.8%. The company's revenue has now risen for two straight quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by 2.6 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 13.1% while cost of sales rose 22.3% to $52.9 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:

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