BP Whiffs on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

BP (NYS: BP) reported earnings on Feb. 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), BP whiffed on revenues and earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded significantly and GAAP earnings per share expanded significantly.

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
BP chalked up revenue of $96.34 billion. The two analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $108.02 billion. Sales were 19% higher than the prior-year quarter's $79.70 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.40. The nine earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $1.60 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.40 for Q4 were 38% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.29 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 18.4%, 250 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 10.9%, 340 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.1%, 120 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $87.81 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.73.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $362.34 billion. The average EPS estimate is $6.73.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 4,895 members out of 5,231 rating the stock outperform, and 336 members rating it underperform. Among 1,208 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 1,160 give BP a green thumbs-up, and 48 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on BP is outperform, with an average price target of $52.01.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson owned shares of the following at the time of publication: BP. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. 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.

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