Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) came in under analyst's estimates last quarter, but now have a chance to fix things this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, October 18. Juniper Networks offers products and services that facilitate the deployment of services and applications over the Internet.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Juniper Networks with 15 of 28 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Juniper Networks as much as competitor Alcatel-Lucent (ADR overall. Six out of 12 analysts rate Alcatel-Lucent (ADR a buy compared to 13 of 28 for Juniper Networks.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $1.1 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 8.9% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 20 cents per share. Estimates range from 18 cents to 24 cents.

What our community says:
 CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 89.8% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All Stars with 87.4% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Juniper Networks and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 211 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Juniper Networks, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
 Juniper Networks' profit has risen year over year by an average of more than twofold over the past five quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by three percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 14.5% while cost of sales rose 25.1% to $398.4 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

64.4%

66.8%

66.6%

66.9%

Operating Margin

15.3%

16.1%

19.1%

19.3%

Net Margin

10.3%

11.8%

16%

13.3%

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