RTI International Metals Earnings Preview

Updated

Investors are on the edge of their collective seats, hoping that RTI International Metals (NYS: RTI) will top analyst expectations for the third consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, February 7. RTI International Metals is a producer and global supplier of titanium mill products. It is also a manufacturer of fabricated titanium and specialty metal components for the international aerospace, defense, energy, and industrial and consumer markets.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Half of analysts think investors should stand pat on RTI International Metals. Analysts like RTI International Metals better than competitor Titanium Metals overall. One out of three analysts rate Titanium Metals a buy compared to three of eight for RTI International Metals. 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 $137.8 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 20.2% from the year-ago quarter.

  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.10 per share. Estimates range from $0.08 to $0.11.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 97.5% granting it an "outperform" rating. Most of the community is in line with the All Stars, with 92.4% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced RTI International Metals and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 111 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, RTI International Metals' CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
The company boosted its gross margin by 3.6 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 40% while cost of sales rose 34.2% to $118.7 million from a year earlier.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Margins illustrate how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. RTI International Metals saw an increase in its gross margins in the last two quarters year-over-year. Gross margins reflect the total sales revenue that the company retains after costs. Here are RTI International Metals' reported margins for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

17.4%

20%

21.5%

15%

Operating Margin

5.4%

4.9%

7.8%

2.2%

Net Margin

1.4%

1.7%

1.9%

-1.3%

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

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.

At the time thisarticle was published

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement