The Gory Details on Progress Energy's Double Miss

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Progress Energy (NYS: PGN) reported earnings on May 3. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Progress Energy missed estimates on revenues and earnings per share.

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Progress Energy logged revenue of $2.09 billion. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for a top line of $2.23 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 3.5% lower than the prior-year quarter's $2.17 billion.

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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 $0.48. The 12 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.65 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.51 for Q1 were 18% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.62 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.01 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

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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 31.9%, 200 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.4%, 340 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.2%, 130 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.31 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.69.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $9.89 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.18.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 269 members out of 298 rating the stock outperform, and 29 members rating it underperform. Among 83 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 80 give Progress Energy 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 Progress Energy is hold, with an average price target of $53.31.

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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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