Forest Oil Beats Expectations But Takes A Step Back Anyway

Updated

Forest Oil (NYS: FST) reported earnings on May 6. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue contracted significantly. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly. GAAP loss per share increased.


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

Revenue details
Forest Oil logged revenue of $118.2 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected net sales of $131.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 26% lower than the prior-year quarter's $158.9 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 $0.03. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.02 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.03 for Q1 were 73% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.11 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.59 for Q1 against -$0.29 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 77.4%, 430 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -26.6%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -57.5%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $123.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.04.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $519.1 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.22.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 323 members out of 341 rating the stock outperform, and 18 members rating it underperform. Among 73 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 63 give Forest Oil a green thumbs-up, and 10 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Forest Oil is hold, with an average price target of $7.72.

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The article Forest Oil Beats Expectations But Takes A Step Back Anyway 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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