Penn West Petroleum (NYSE: PWE) is expected to report Q2 earnings around Aug. 5. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Penn West Petroleum's revenues will shrink -26.4% and EPS will shrink to a loss.

The average estimate for revenue is $714.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.05.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Penn West Petroleum tallied revenue of $890.8 million. GAAP reported sales were 0.4% higher than the prior-year quarter's $726.9 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, EPS came in at $0.12. GAAP EPS of $0.12 for Q1 were 82% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.65 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 61.4%, 380 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -1.0%, 960 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.1%, 3,310 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
The full year's average estimate for revenue is $3.14 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.07.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,347 members out of 1,393 rating the stock outperform, and 46 members rating it underperform. Among 278 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 267 give Penn West Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and 11 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Penn West Petroleum is outperform, with an average price target of $25.52.