The Gory Details of EQT's Earnings Miss

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

EQT (NYS: EQT) reported earnings on April 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
EQT booked revenue of $450.0 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected sales of $402.2 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 1.3% lower than the prior-year quarter's $455.7 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 $0.50. The 17 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.61 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.48 for Q1 were 41% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.82 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 67.7%, 170 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 33.8%, 960 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 16.0%, 1,080 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $370.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.42.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.61 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.10.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 144 members out of 157 rating the stock outperform, and 13 members rating it underperform. Among 48 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 45 give EQT a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on EQT is outperform, with an average price target of $65.97.

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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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