Universal Electronics (Nasdaq: UEIC) will look to avoid missing estimates for the third consecutive quarter when its earnings are released. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Feb. 23. Universal Electronics is engaged in the development of a line of pre-programmed universal wireless control products and audio-video accessories that are marketed to enhance home entertainment systems.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Universal Electronics, with four of six rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Universal Electronics as much as competitor Audiovox overall. Analysts haven't adjusted their rating of Universal Electronics for the past three months.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $116.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 13.4% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.36 per share. Estimates range from $0.34 to $0.40.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are strongly supporting the stock, with 100% granting it an "outperform" rating. The greater community agrees with the All-Stars, as 94.8% give it a rating of "outperform." Universal Electronics has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Universal Electronics' profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 10.7% over the past five quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by 4.9 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 56.3% while cost of sales rose 67.7% to $89.3 million from a year earlier.

Now, a look at how efficient management has been at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. Universal Electronics has experienced a drop in operating margins year over year for the last four quarters. Operating margin reflects the total sales revenue that the company retains after costs. Here are Universal Electronics' reported margins for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

27.7%

28.7%

26.1%

27.9%

Operating Margin

7.7%

6.8%

2.4%

4.6%

Net Margin

5.7%

5.0%

1.7%

3.7%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.