Niska Gas Storage Partners Beats Expectations but Loses Ground Anyway

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Niska Gas Storage Partners (NYS: NKA) reported earnings on May 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q4), Niska Gas Storage Partners missed estimates on revenue and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Gross margin improved, while operating margin and net margin dropped.

Revenue details
Niska Gas Storage Partners booked revenue of $57.3 million. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $63 million on the same basis. GAAP-reported sales were 32% higher than the prior-year quarter's $43.3 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 $0.49. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.27 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.22 for Q4 were 46% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.41 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 84.1%, 1,260 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 48.6%, 2,990 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 27.3%, 3,710 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $49.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.05.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $209.1 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.32.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 133 members rating the stock outperform and six members rating it underperform. Among 36 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 34 give Niska Gas Storage Partners 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 Niska Gas Storage Partners is hold, with an average price target of $9.17.

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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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