Carrizo Oil & Gas Beats Up on Analysts Yet Again

Carrizo Oil & Gas (Nasdaq: CRZO ) reported earnings on Feb. 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Carrizo Oil & Gas beat expectations on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

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

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
Carrizo Oil & Gas booked revenue of $116.7 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see sales of $105.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $55.8 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 $0.54. The 13 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.35 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.54 for Q4 were 135% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.23 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.46 for Q4 were 188% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.16 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 89.1%, 500 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 40.0%, much better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 15.8%, 410 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $106.9 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.42.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $481.0 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.86.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 261 members out of 291 rating the stock outperform, and 30 members rating it underperform. Among 63 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 55 give Carrizo Oil & Gas a green thumbs-up, and eight give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Carrizo Oil & Gas is outperform, with an average price target of $32.61.

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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 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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