Whiting Petroleum Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines (WLL)

Whiting Petroleum Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL ) reported earnings on Feb. 27. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Margins increased across the board.

Revenue details
Whiting Petroleum logged revenue of $577.1 million. The 21 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see revenue of $536.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 17% higher than the prior-year quarter's $492.0 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 $0.83. The 32 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.74 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.83 for Q4 were 21% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.05 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.69 for Q4 were 30% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.53 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 75.6%, 30 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 26.0%, 450 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 14.2%, 140 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $566.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.85.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.43 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.80.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 687 members out of 708 rating the stock outperform, and 21 members rating it underperform. Among 106 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 103 give Whiting Petroleum a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Whiting Petroleum is outperform, with an average price target of $60.00.

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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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