NSTAR Earnings Preview

Motley Fool Staff
Updated

Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that NSTAR (NYS: NST) will top analyst expectations for the third consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, Jan. 26. NSTAR is a holding company which is engaged, through its subsidiaries, in the energy delivery business.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are bullish on this stock. Only one rate it as a sell, while five recommend it as a buy. Analysts like NSTAR better than competitor Northeast Utilities System overall. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from hold to moderate buy.

  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $686.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 1.5% from the year-ago quarter.

  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.52 per share. Estimates range from $0.51 to $0.52.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are strongly backing the stock, with 100% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 94.6% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about NSTAR, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 38 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, NSTAR's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
NSTAR's income has fallen year-over-year by an average of 10.7% over the past five quarters.

Now let's get some insight into how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins serve as an illustration of how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. The company's gross margins have been increasing year-over-year for the last four quarters. Gross margins reflect the total sales revenue retained after costs. Here is how NSTAR has been doing for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

43.2%

40.5%

35.7%

36.8%

Net Margin

12.1%

9.5%

7.2%

6.8%

For all our NSTAR-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add NSTAR to My Watchlist.

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