Berry Petroleum Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Berry Petroleum (NYS: BRY) reported earnings on Feb. 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Gross margins grew, operating margins contracted, and net margins contracted.

Revenue details
Berry Petroleum chalked up revenue of $241 million. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected a top line of $236.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 34% higher than the prior-year quarter's $180 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 $0.76. The 12 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.72 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$7.62 for Q4 against -$0.39 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 68.2%, 530 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -269.2%, 26,690 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -172.1%, 16,040 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $250.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.88.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.10 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.18.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 348 members rating the stock outperform and 18 members rating it underperform. Among 102 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 100 give Berry Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Berry Petroleum is outperform, with an average price target of $55.69.

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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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