After beating estimates last quarter by $0.21, Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE: HLX) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday. Helix Energy Solutions Group is an international offshore energy company that provides reservoir development solutions and other contracting services to the energy market as well as to its own oil and gas properties.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: The majority of analysts back Helix Energy Solutions Group as a buy. But with 57.1% of analysts rating it a buy, Helix Energy Solutions Group is still below the mean analyst rating of its nearest 10 competitors, which average 73.3% buys. Analysts don't like Helix Energy Solutions Group as much as competitor Superior Energy Services overall. Six out of seven analysts rate Superior Energy Services a buy compared to four of seven for Helix Energy Solutions Group.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $346.3 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 11.8% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.41 per share. Estimates range from $0.28 to $0.46.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 97.1% giving it an outperform rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars with 96.1% assigning it a rating of outperform. Fools have embraced Helix Energy Solutions Group and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 281 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Helix Energy Solutions Group, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:

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

29.6%

26.4%

5.2%

22.0%

Operating Margin

22.6%

17.9%

(9.6%)

15.3%

Net Margin

12.2%

8.9%

(16.3%)

6.7%

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