Steris (NYSE: STE) came in under analyst estimates last quarter, but now have a chance to fix things this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings Tuesday. Steris is a provider of infection prevention and surgical products and services, focused mainly on the critical markets of healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and research.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are bullish on Steris as four analysts rate it as a buy and only one analyst rate it as a sell. Analysts like Steris better than competitor Hill-Rom Holdings overall. While analysts still rate the stock a Hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared with three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $311.3 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 6.9% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.49 per share. Estimates range from $0.43 to $0.52.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 90% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 84.7% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Steris, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 45 posts in the past 30 days. The CAPS rating of five out of five stars for Steris is far more upbeat than the community assessment.

Management:
The company's revenue has now risen for two 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.

Quarter

Q4

Q3

Q2

Q1

Gross Margin

41.3%

41.7%

43.2%

9.6%

Operating Margin

15.2%

10.9%

17.6%

(33.3%)

Net Margin

10.3%

6.6%

11.4%

(23.9%)

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

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