After beating estimates last quarter by $0.04, Copart (Nasdaq: CPRT) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Feb. 27. Copart is a provider of online auctions and vehicle remarketing services in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Copart, with six out of eight analysts rating it a hold. 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 $218.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 5.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.59 per share. Estimates range from $0.56 to $0.60.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 97.6% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large is in line with the All-Stars, with 96.8% awarding it a rating of outperform. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Copart's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Copart's profit has risen year over year by an average of 9.9% 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

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

42.2%

41.6%

46.0%

41.4%

Operating Margin

29.0%

29.5%

34.7%

29.0%

Net Margin

18.2%

18.8%

21.2%

18.3%

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

Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Copart. Motley Fool newsletter services have also recommended shorting Copart.. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.