Hercules Offshore Misses Where it Counts

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Hercules Offshore (NAS: HERO) reported earnings on Oct. 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), Hercules Offshore met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew and GAAP loss per share grew.


Gross margins expanded, operating margins expanded, net margins dropped.

Revenue details
 Hercules Offshore reported revenue of $184.9 million. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $183.3 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $163.0 million.

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 -$0.10. The 20 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated -$0.09 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.24 for Q3 versus -$0.12 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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 53.7%, 2,200 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 23.1%, 2,470 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -20.5%, 1,010 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $197.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.03.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $701.8 million. The average EPS estimate is -$0.50.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,563 members out of 1,629 rating the stock outperform, and 66 members rating it underperform. Among 363 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 353 give Hercules Offshore a green thumbs-up, and 10 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Hercules Offshore is outperform, with an average price target of $5.51.

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The article Hercules Offshore Misses Where it Counts originally appeared on Fool.com.

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. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. 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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