Noble Energy Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Updated

Noble Energy (NYS: NBL) reported earnings on April 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Noble Energy beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank slightly. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly. GAAP earnings per share shrank slightly.


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

Revenue details
Noble Energy notched revenue of $1.14 billion. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $1.09 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 10% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.04 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 $1.48. The 26 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $1.25 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $1.48 for Q1 were 15% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.75 per share. (The prior-year quarter included $0.08 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.) GAAP EPS of $1.44 for Q1 were 2.7% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.48 per share. (The prior-year quarter included $0.08 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

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 83.6%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 37.2%, 710 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 22.8%, 270 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.18 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.46.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $5.17 billion. The average EPS estimate is $6.91.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 399 members out of 416 rating the stock outperform, and 17 members rating it underperform. Among 90 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 85 give Noble Energy 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 Noble Energy is outperform, with an average price target of $128.48.

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The article Noble Energy 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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