PAA Natural Gas Storage Beats on the Top Line

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

PAA Natural Gas Storage (NYS: PNG) reported earnings on Feb. 6. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), PAA Natural Gas Storage crushed expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Margins expanded across the board.

Revenue details
 PAA Natural Gas Storage chalked up revenue of $112.7 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see revenue of $74.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 29% lower than the prior-year quarter's $158.8 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 $0.31. The eight earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.28 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.30 were the same as 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 34.9%, 1,160 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 22.0%, 720 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 19.9%, 600 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $78.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.22.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $300.5 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.93.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 68 members out of 69 rating the stock outperform, and one members rating it underperform. Among 27 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 27 give PAA Natural Gas Storage a green thumbs-up, and give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on PAA Natural Gas Storage is hold, with an average price target of $19.72.

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The article PAA Natural Gas Storage Beats on the Top Line 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 position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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