Western Refining Whiffs on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Western Refining (NYS: WNR) reported earnings on Nov. 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), Western Refining beat expectations on revenues and whiffed on earnings per share.

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


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 Western Refining logged revenue of $2.45 billion. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $2.24 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 2.1% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.40 billion.

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 $0.99. The eight earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $1.45 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.07 for Q3 were 91% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.81 per share.

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 3.3%, 650 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 1.2%, 590 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 0.3%, 320 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.16 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.92.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $9.74 billion. The average EPS estimate is $5.09.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,093 members out of 1,147 rating the stock outperform, and 54 members rating it underperform. Among 254 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 244 give Western Refining 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 Western Refining is outperform, with an average price target of $30.89.

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The article Western Refining Whiffs on Earnings 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 owns shares of Western Refining. 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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