Ultra Petroleum Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Ultra Petroleum (NYS: UPL) filed its 10-K on Feb. 17. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
Ultra Petroleum logged revenue of $270.8 million. The 11 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see a top line of $338.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 11% higher than the prior-year quarter's $311.6 million.

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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 $0.58. The 20 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.62 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.86 for Q4 were 258% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.24 per share.

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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 58.2%, 270 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 64.6%, 4,130 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 38.3%, 2,610 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $274.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.31.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.13 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.44.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,382 members out of 1,418 rating the stock outperform, and 36 members rating it underperform. Among 334 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 328 give Ultra Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and six give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Ultra Petroleum is hold, with an average price target of $47.81.

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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. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ultra Petroleum. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Ultra Petroleum. 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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