Hi-Tech Pharmacal (Nasdaq: HITK) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, March 8. Hi-Tech Pharmacal is a specialty manufacturer and marketer of prescription, over-the-counter, and nutritional products.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on Hi-Tech Pharmacal while the remaining half are split between buy and sell. Analysts don't like Hi-Tech Pharmacal as much as competitor Par Pharmaceutical Companies overall. Seven out of nine analysts rate Par Pharmaceutical Companies a buy compared to one of four for Hi-Tech Pharmacal. 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 $55.7 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 11.4% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.89 per share. Estimates range from $0.76 to $0.98.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly supporting the stock, with 94.7% granting it an "outperform" rating. Most of the community agrees with the All-Stars, with 92.8% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Even with a robust four out of five stars, Hi-Tech Pharmacal's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Hi-Tech Pharmacal's profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 52.6% over the past five quarters. The company boosted its gross margin by three percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 26.7% while cost of sales rose 18% to $23.5 million from a year earlier.

Now let's get some insight into how efficient management is at running the business. Margins are a representation of how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. Hi-Tech Pharmacal's operating margins have been increasing year-over-year for the last four quarters. Operating margins reflect the total sales revenue that the company retains after costs. Here is how Hi-Tech Pharmacal has been doing for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Gross Margin

58.7%

59.1%

56.0%

56.5%

Operating Margin

35.0%

37.1%

37.0%

31.2%

Net Margin

24.2%

24.5%

22.8%

20.3%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Hi-Tech Pharmacal movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.