Diamond Offshore Drilling Beats Up on Analysts Yet Again

Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE: DO  ) reported earnings on Feb. 5. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Diamond Offshore Drilling beat slightly on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue was unchanged and GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly.

Gross margins grew, operating margins increased, net margins shrank.

Revenue details
Diamond Offshore Drilling tallied revenue of $750.5 million. The 20 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated net sales of $738.1 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 2.2% higher than the prior-year quarter's $734.3 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 $1.41. The 30 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $1.11 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.12 for Q4 were 17% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.35 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 49.7%, 510 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 34.1%, 440 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 20.7%, 500 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $743.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.09.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $3.19 billion. The average EPS estimate is $5.13.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,921 members out of 1,965 rating the stock outperform, and 44 members rating it underperform. Among 468 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 453 give Diamond Offshore Drilling a green thumbs-up, and 15 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Diamond Offshore Drilling is hold, with an average price target of $73.87.

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