Compuware Earnings Preview

Compuware (Nasdaq: CPWR) beat estimates by $0.02 last quarter and investors are hoping it can beat them again. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Oct. 20. Compuware provides software products and professional services that improve the performance of information technology organizations.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are very bullish on this stock, unanimously backing it as a buy. Analysts like Compuware better than competitor Quest Software overall. Three out of five analysts rate Quest Software a buy compared to four of four for Compuware. Analysts' rating of Compuware has stayed constant from three months prior.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $249.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 10.5% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.10 per share. Estimates range from $0.09 to $0.12.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 92.7% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 85.5% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Compuware, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 51 posts in the past 30 days. The bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars for Compuware slightly outpaces Fool enthusiasm for the company.

Management:
Compuware's profit has risen year over year by an average of 14.9% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by 3.1 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 11.4% while cost of sales rose 21.9% to $82.1 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.

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Compuware movements -- and for more analysis on the company -- make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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