Buffalo Wild Wings Earnings Preview

After beating estimates last quarter by $0.06, Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq: BWLD  ) has set the standard for itself. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday. Buffalo Wild Wings is an owner, operator, and franchiser of restaurants.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Buffalo Wild Wings with nine of 16 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Buffalo Wild Wings as much as competitor BJ's Restaurants overall. Nine out of 16 analysts rate BJ's Restaurants a buy compared to five of 16 for Buffalo Wild Wings.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $251.2 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 37.9% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.95 per share. Estimates range from $0.89 to $1.04.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are in strong support of the stock, with 97.1% granting it an outperform rating. The greater community backs the All-Stars, as 93.2% give it a rating of outperform. The six posts Fools have logged over the past month reveal that they are gung-ho about Buffalo Wild Wings. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Buffalo Wild Wings, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Buffalo Wild Wings' profit has risen year-over-year by an average of 30.9% over the past five quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter	Q4	Q3	Q2	Q1
Gross Margin	25.7%	26.1%	27.9%	28.7%
Operating Margin	8.4%	8.1%	8.7%	12.1%
Net Margin	6.2%	5.7%	5.8%	8.2%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.