Encana Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Encana (NYS: ECA) reported earnings on Feb. 14. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Gross margins dropped, operating margins contracted, net margins grew.

Revenue details
 Encana reported revenue of $1.61 billion. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see a top line of $1.57 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 35% lower than the prior-year quarter's $2.46 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 $0.40. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.35 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.11 for Q4 compared to -$0.34 per share for 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 61.3%, 1,050 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 27.0%, 400 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -5.0%, 500 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.31 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.06.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $5.87 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.66.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,096 members out of 1,128 rating the stock outperform, and 32 members rating it underperform. Among 226 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 221 give Encana a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Encana is hold, with an average price target of $22.81.

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The article Encana Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines 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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