Standard Motor Products (NYSE: SMP) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Feb. 27. Standard Motor Products is an independent manufacturer and distributor of replacement parts for motor vehicles in the automotive aftermarket industry, with an increasing focus on the original equipment and original equipment service markets.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Standard Motor Products, with two out of three rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Standard Motor Products better than competitor Fuel Systems Solutions overall. Analysts haven't adjusted their rating of Standard Motor Products for the past three months.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $182.3 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 5.4% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.16 per share. Estimates range from $0.12 to $0.19.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 97.2% assigning it an outperform rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 93.3% giving it a rating of outperform. Fools are keen on Standard Motor Products, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only one post in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Standard Motor Products' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Standard Motor Products' profit has risen year overyear by an average of 37.6% 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. Margins illustrate how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. Standard Motor Products' operating margins have been increasing year overyear for the last four quarters. Operating margins reflect the total sales revenue that the company retains after costs. Here are Standard Motor Products' reported margins for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

27.3%

25.9%

24.1%

26.2%

Operating Margin

9.6%

9.5%

5.6%

4.9%

Net Margin

5.5%

5.5%

3.0%

1.3%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.