Can Whiting Petroleum Beat These Numbers?

Updated

Whiting Petroleum (NYS: WLL) is expected to report Q4 earnings around Feb. 23. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Whiting Petroleum's revenues will increase 8.2% and EPS will contract -28.6%.

The average estimate for revenue is $539.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.75.


Revenue details
Last quarter, Whiting Petroleum tallied revenue of $530.5 million. GAAP reported sales were 11% higher than the prior-year quarter's $468.6 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.73. GAAP EPS of $0.70 for Q3 were 60% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.74 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 73.6%, 250 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 28.6%, 4,230 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 16.0%, 2,800 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $2.13 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.28.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 688 members out of 709 rating the stock outperform, and 21 members rating it underperform. Among 113 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 110 give Whiting Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Whiting Petroleum is outperform, with an average price target of $61.32.

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The article Can Whiting Petroleum Beat These Numbers? 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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