Whiting Petroleum Beats on the Top Line

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Whiting Petroleum (NYS: WLL) reported earnings on April 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


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

Revenue details
Whiting Petroleum reported revenue of $563.7 million. The 17 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $535.2 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 32% higher than the prior-year quarter's $425.7 million.

anImage
anImage

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 $1.03. The 25 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $1.03 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.83 for Q1 were 419% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.16 per share.

anImage
anImage

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 75.3%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 31.4%, 2,140 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 17.5%, 1,290 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $531.1 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.02.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.23 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.35.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 674 members out of 695 rating the stock outperform, and 21 members rating it underperform. Among 110 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 108 give Whiting 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 Whiting Petroleum is outperform, with an average price target of $67.35.

Is Whiting Petroleum the right energy stock for you? Read about a handful of timely, profit-producing plays on expensive crude in "3 Stocks for $100 Oil." Click here for instant access to this free report.

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.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement