Melco Crown Entertainment's Earnings Beat Last Year's by 33% (MPEL)

Melco Crown Entertainment's Earnings Beat Last Year's by 33%

Melco Crown Entertainment (Nasdaq: MPEL ) reported earnings on Aug. 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Melco Crown Entertainment missed estimates on revenues and earnings per share.

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

Gross margins dropped, operating margins dropped, and net margins improved.

Revenue details
Melco Crown Entertainment recorded revenue of $938.5 million. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see revenue of $979.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 2.2% lower than the prior-year quarter's $960.0 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 $0.16. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.17 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.15 for Q2 were 25% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.12 per share.

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 27.0%, 100 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 11.1%, 220 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.8%, 190 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $973.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.17.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $4.01 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.71.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,304 members out of 1,354 rating the stock outperform, and 50 members rating it underperform. Among 307 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 294 give Melco Crown Entertainment a green thumbs-up, and 13 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Melco Crown Entertainment is outperform, with an average price target of $16.42.

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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. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. 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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