How The Wheels Came Off Barrick Gold's Bus

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Barrick Gold (NYS: ABX) reported earnings on Nov. 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), Barrick Gold missed estimates on revenues and whiffed on earnings per share.

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


Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
 Barrick Gold logged revenue of $3.44 billion. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for revenue of $3.64 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 13% lower than the prior-year quarter's $3.97 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 $0.85. The 20 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $1.01 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.62 for Q3 were 54% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.36 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 47.1%, 1,130 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 30.6%, 2,260 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 18.0%, 1,640 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $3.95 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.19.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $14.49 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.01.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,039 members out of 2,157 rating the stock outperform, and 118 members rating it underperform. Among 384 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 354 give Barrick Gold a green thumbs-up, and 30 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Barrick Gold is outperform, with an average price target of $52.11.

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The article How The Wheels Came Off Barrick Gold's Bus 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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