Atwood Oceanics Misses Where It Counts (ATW)

Atwood Oceanics Misses Where It Counts

Atwood Oceanics (NYSE: ATW ) reported earnings on Feb. 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q1), Atwood Oceanics met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

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

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Atwood Oceanics reported revenue of $184.7 million. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $184.4 million. Sales were 26% higher than the prior-year quarter's $146.3 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at $1.00. The 11 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $1.02 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.00 for Q1 were 23% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.81 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 57.6%, 250 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 41.6%, 180 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 35.5%, 60 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $169.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.86.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $743.1 million. The average EPS estimate is $4.04.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,344 members out of 2,366 rating the stock outperform, and 22 members rating it underperform. Among 780 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 774 give Atwood Oceanics a green thumbs-up, and six give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Atwood Oceanics is outperform, with an average price target of $48.07.

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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 of Motley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Atwood Oceanics. 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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Report this Comment On February 03, 2012, at 10:32 AM, hanover67 wrote:

This "miss" of 2 cents per share is inconsequential in view of the 23% rise in earnings, with more coming as new rigs go online. I think ATW is poised to grow significantly. It is in the right place at the right time, with high or rising oil prices for the forseeable future.