Green Plains Renewable Energy Goes Red

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Green Plains Renewable Energy (NAS: GPRE) reported earnings on April 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Green Plains Renewable Energy beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Green Plains Renewable Energy reported revenue of $775.4 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for revenue of $759.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 4.5% lower than the prior-year quarter's $812.2 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 -$0.31. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.10 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$0.39 for Q1 compared to $0.20 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 1.1%, 350 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -1.4%, 380 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -1.6%, 260 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $786.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.16.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $3.11 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.97.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 84 members out of 139 rating the stock outperform, and 55 members rating it underperform. Among 42 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 18 give Green Plains Renewable Energy a green thumbs-up, and 24 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Green Plains Renewable Energy is outperform, with an average price target of $13.84.

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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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