Watch Fairchild Semiconductor International's (NYSE: FCS) earnings report to see if it can beat analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, October 13. Fairchild Semiconductor International is focused on developing, manufacturing and selling power analog, power discrete and certain non-power semiconductor solutions to a range of end market customers.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Fairchild Semiconductor International with six of 11 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Fairchild Semiconductor International as much as competitor Microsemi overall. Nine out of 10 analysts rate Microsemi a buy compared to five of 11 for Fairchild Semiconductor International. While analysts still rate the stock a Hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $404.2 million 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 32 cents per share. Estimates range from 28 cents to 39 cents.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 96.8% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All Stars with 93.5% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are bullish on Fairchild Semiconductor International, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 51 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Fairchild Semiconductor International's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Fairchild Semiconductor International's revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters. The company raised its gross margin by 2.1 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 5.8% while cost of sales rose 2.3% to $272.5 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

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Gross Margin

37.1%

36.8%

37%

36.4%

Operating Margin

12.7%

12.6%

12.8%

11.7%

Net Margin

10.4%

10.5%

12.8%

8.6%

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

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.