Charting Calpine's Latest Earnings Release

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Calpine (NYS: CPN) reported earnings on Feb. 10. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Calpine beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased, and GAAP loss per share dropped.

Margins expanded across the board.

Revenue details
Calpine reported revenue of $2.21 billion. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $1.85 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 0.8% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.47 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.40. The 10 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.43 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$0.03 for Q3 versus -$0.05 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 26.3%, 760 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 12.6%, 980 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -0.9%, 70 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.67 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.03.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $6.94 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.15.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 213 members rating the stock outperform and 14 members rating it underperform. Among 74 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 70 give Calpine a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Calpine is outperform, with an average price target of $18.18.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. 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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