Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Jan. 5. Worthington Industries is a metal processing company focused on value-added steel processing and manufactured metal products.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Worthington Industries, with five out of six analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Worthington Industries as much as competitor Reliance Steel & Aluminum overall. Nine out of nine analysts rate Reliance Steel & Aluminum a buy compared to one out of six for Worthington Industries. 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 $589.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 1.5% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.31 per share. Estimates range from $0.25 to $0.35.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 88.9% granting it an outperform rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 85.1% giving it a rating of outperform. Fools are bullish on Worthington Industries, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 72 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Worthington Industries, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Worthington Industries' income has fallen year over year by an average of 53.6% over the past five quarters. A year-over-year revenue decrease last quarter snaps a streak of three consecutive quarters of revenue increases.

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

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

11.9%

17.6%

15.5%

12%

Operating Margin

3.5%

9.2%

4.9%

2.2%

Net Margin

4.3%

7.7%

4.6%

2.5%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.