Ultra Petroleum Goes Red

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Ultra Petroleum (NYS: UPL) reported earnings on Feb. 15. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Ultra Petroleum whiffed on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 Ultra Petroleum notched revenue of $217.2 million. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $261.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 20% lower than the prior-year quarter's $270.8 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 $0.51. The 22 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.53 per share. GAAP EPS were -$3.09 for Q4 against $0.86 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 69.6%, 450 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 30.8%, 5,140 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -217.3%, 26,600 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $218.6 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.25.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $904.2 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.09.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,518 members out of 1,574 rating the stock outperform, and 56 members rating it underperform. Among 331 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 319 give Ultra Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and 12 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Ultra Petroleum is hold, with an average price target of $25.47.

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The article Ultra Petroleum Goes Red 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 recommends Ultra Petroleum. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ultra Petroleum and has the following options: Long Jan 2014 $30 Calls on Ultra Petroleum, Long Jan 2014 $40 Calls on Ultra Petroleum, and Long Jan 2014 $50 Calls on Ultra Petroleum. 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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