Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) beat estimates by $0.17 last quarter, and investors are hoping it can beat them again. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday. Alliant Techsystems is an aerospace and defense company with operations in approximately 24 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. It produces military small-caliber ammunition for use in soldier-carried weapons.

What analysts say

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Alliant Techsystems with seven of 13 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Alliant Techsystems as much as competitor Orbital overall. Ten out of 10 analysts rate Orbital a buy compared to six of 13 for Alliant Techsystems. Analysts' rating of Alliant Techsystems has stayed constant from three months prior.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $1.17 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 2.5% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.97 per share. Estimates range from $1.90 to $2.04.

What our community says
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 96.7% awarding it an outperform rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars with 91.2% assigning it a rating of outperform. Fools are gung-ho about Alliant Techsystems, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 91 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Alliant Techsystems, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management
Alliant Techsystems' profit has risen year over year by an average of 13.2%.

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

20.4%

20.6%

20.8%

21.0%

Operating Margin

10.1%

11.2%

11.1%

11.1%

Net Margin

5.5%

6.2%

8.0%

6.2%

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