Blackbaud (Nasdaq: BLKB) beat estimates by $0.05 last quarter and investors are hoping it can beat them again. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Aug. 4. Blackbaud is a global provider of software and related services designed specifically for nonprofit organizations.
What analysts say:
- Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Blackbaud, with four of seven rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Blackbaud as much as competitor JDA Software Group overall. Three out of four rate JDA Software Group a buy, compared with two of seven for Blackbaud. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared with three months ago.
- Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $91.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 13.6% from the year-ago quarter.
- Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.21 per share. Estimates range from $0.19 to $0.22.
What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 91.3% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 87.9% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Blackbaud, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 54 posts in the past 30 days. Blackbaud's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community's sentiment.
Management:
Blackbaud's profit has risen year over year by an average of 6.1%.
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 | 58.5% | 58.4% | 60% | 60.7% |
| Operating Margin | 11.8% | 14.2% | 15.8% | 13.8% |
| Net Margin | 8.7% | 9.8% | 10.2% | 8.4% |
