Penn West Petroleum Beats on the Top Line

Penn West Petroleum (NYSE: PWE  ) reported earnings on Feb. 14. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Penn West Petroleum logged revenue of $793.6 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $726.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 17% lower than the prior-year quarter's $799.7 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 -$0.11. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.02 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.11 for Q4 against -$0.13 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 62.4%, 340 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -39.1%, 2,000 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -8.0%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $656.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.05.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.77 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$0.04.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,352 members out of 1,400 rating the stock outperform, and 48 members rating it underperform. Among 284 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 277 give Penn West Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Penn West Petroleum is hold, with an average price target of $10.91.

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