Watch Clean Harbors' (NYSE: CLH) earnings report to see whether it can beat analyst expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, Aug. 3. Clean Harbors, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of environmental services and solutions to a customer base in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.
What analysts say:
- Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Clean Harbors, with seven of 12 rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Clean Harbors better than competitor US Ecology overall. While analysts still rate the stock a moderate buy, they are a little more optimistic about it compared with three months ago.
- Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $419.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 11% from the year-ago quarter.
- Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.42 per share. Estimates range from $0.40 to $0.45.
What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 95.4% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 94.6% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Clean Harbors, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 95 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Clean Harbors' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.
Management:
Clean Harbors' profit has risen year over year by an average of more than threefold.
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 | 28.1% | 30.3% | 31.2% | 31.2% |
| Operating Margin | 9.1% | 10.3% | 15% | 15.2% |
| Net Margin | 5.2% | 5.6% | 8% | 12.3% |
