Investors never know what to expect for Enzo Biochem (NYSE: ENZ), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, October 12. Enzo Biochem is engaged in research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of diagnostic and research products based on genetic engineering, biotechnology, and molecular biology.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are very bullish on this stock, unanimously backing it as a buy. Enzo Biochem's rating hasn't changed over the past three months.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $27.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 10.8% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is a loss of $0.09 per share.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 86.7% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars with 85.5% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Enzo Biochem, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 35 posts in the past 30 days. Enzo Biochem's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters. The company boosted its gross margin by 2.4 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 8.6% while cost of sales rose 3.7% to $13.5 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. 

Quarter Q3 Q2 Q1 Q4
Gross Margin 47.9% 43.5% 52.5% 41%
Operating Margin -8.8% -23.4% -4.2% -23.6%
Net Margin -8.2% -24% -4.4% -22.1%

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