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Marathon Oil Second Quarter Earnings Preview
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MRO
Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) will release its second quarter earnings on Wednesday, August 1, 2012. Analysts have become increasingly bearish on the company over the last month, with the consensus analyst estimate slipping from 71 cents a share to the current prediction of earnings of 64 cents a share.
Investors should care about a company's quarterly earnings because it shows the state of the business over the past 90 days and provides guidance for the following 90 days. SEE: 12 Things You Need To Know About Financial Statements
What to Expect: Whereas the consensus estimate was 90 cents three months ago, it has since fallen. Analysts are expecting earnings of $2.80 per share for the fiscal year.
Marathon Oil's expected revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter is below last year's reported figure of $3.7 billion by 12.7%. Revenue for the fiscal year is expected to come in at $14.84 billion.
Company Performance: Marathon Oil has experienced four consecutive quarters of revenue decline. It decreased 80.7% to $4.04 billion in the first quarter. Prior to that, the figure fell 81.3% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, 80.1% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year and 79.9% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year.
The P/E ratio for MRO is 7.6, below the industry average of 10.46. Companies with low P/E ratios may find it easier to surprise the market to the upside, even if their financial performance is not as strong as that of companies with high P/E ratios. A company's price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) provides a measure of how expensive or cheap a stock is. High P/E stocks could be "growth" stocks, while low PE stocks may be "value" stocks. SEE: The P/E Ratio: A Good Market-Timing Indicator
Since April 30, 2012, the stock price has dipped 10.4% to $26.30 from $29.34. Marathon Oil's best recent streak was when its price gained $2.69 per share between June 21, 2012 and July 3, 2012.
The Competition: Marathon Oil is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations in North America, Africa, and Europe. Analyst opinion is split on Marathon Oil, with eight of 16 analysts giving it a hold rating. They have grown pessimistic about the stock, as the number of buy ratings has dropped slightly over the past three months.
The company's closest competitor in the oil and gas - integrated industry is ExxonMobil (XOM). Analysts are less optimistic about Marathon Oil than about ExxonMobil. Seven out of 14 analysts rate the latter a buy compared to eight of 16 for the former.
Investors should care about a company's quarterly earnings because it shows the state of the business over the past 90 days and provides guidance for the following 90 days. SEE: 12 Things You Need To Know About Financial Statements
What to Expect: Whereas the consensus estimate was 90 cents three months ago, it has since fallen. Analysts are expecting earnings of $2.80 per share for the fiscal year.
Marathon Oil's expected revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter is below last year's reported figure of $3.7 billion by 12.7%. Revenue for the fiscal year is expected to come in at $14.84 billion.
Company Performance: Marathon Oil has experienced four consecutive quarters of revenue decline. It decreased 80.7% to $4.04 billion in the first quarter. Prior to that, the figure fell 81.3% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, 80.1% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year and 79.9% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year.
Since April 30, 2012, the stock price has dipped 10.4% to $26.30 from $29.34. Marathon Oil's best recent streak was when its price gained $2.69 per share between June 21, 2012 and July 3, 2012.
The Competition: Marathon Oil is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations in North America, Africa, and Europe. Analyst opinion is split on Marathon Oil, with eight of 16 analysts giving it a hold rating. They have grown pessimistic about the stock, as the number of buy ratings has dropped slightly over the past three months.
The company's closest competitor in the oil and gas - integrated industry is ExxonMobil (XOM). Analysts are less optimistic about Marathon Oil than about ExxonMobil. Seven out of 14 analysts rate the latter a buy compared to eight of 16 for the former.
by
Investopedia Staff
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