Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS) beat estimates by $0.01 last quarter, and investors are hoping it can beat them again. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday. Chico's FAS is a national specialty retailer of private branded, sophisticated, casual-to-dressy clothing, intimates, and accessories.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Chico's FAS with 10 of 19 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Chico's FAS as much as competitor Ascena Retail Group overall. Seven out of 11 analysts rate Ascena Retail Group a buy compared to nine of 19 for Chico's FAS.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $548.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 13.6% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.20 per share. Estimates range from $0.17 to $0.22.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 91.7% giving it an outperform rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 87.8% granting it a rating of outperform. Fools are keen on Chico's FAS and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 444 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Chico's FAS, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Chico's FAS' profit has risen year over year by an average of 29.3% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

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

56.1%

59.1%

53.2%

56.9%

Operating Margin

12.5%

13.6%

6.4%

9.1%

Net Margin

7.9%

8.5%

4.4%

6.0%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks