Noble Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Noble (NYS: NE) reported earnings on April 18. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Noble met expectations on revenue and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Gross margin contracted, operating margin increased, and net margin increased.

Revenue details
Noble recorded revenue of $797.7 million. The 19 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $794.1 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 38% higher than the prior-year quarter's $578.9 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
EPS came in at $0.47. The 28 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.41 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.47 for Q1 were 124% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.21 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 42.4%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 18.0%, 680 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 15.1%, 570 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $925.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.69.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $3.70 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.86.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,262 members out of 2,294 rating the stock outperform, and 32 members rating it underperform. Among 567 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 560 give Noble a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Noble is outperform, with an average price target of $45.06.

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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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