Canadian Natural Resources Misses Where it Counts

Updated

Canadian Natural Resources (TSX: CNQ) reported earnings on Nov. 8. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), Canadian Natural Resources beat expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
Canadian Natural Resources reported revenue of $3.59 billion. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for a top line of $3.48 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.17 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 $0.32. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.51 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.34 for Q3 were 53% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.73 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 52.6%, 430 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 13.6%, 2,230 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 10.2%, 1,520 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $3.77 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.56.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $14.76 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.87.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,486 members out of 1,519 rating the stock outperform, and 33 members rating it underperform. Among 350 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 346 give Canadian Natural Resources a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Canadian Natural Resources is outperform, with an average price target of $41.75.

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The article Canadian Natural Resources 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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