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Noble's (NE) Q1 Loss Narrower Than Expected, Revenues Top

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Noble Corporation (NE - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2018 loss of 55 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 58 cents. The company had incurred a loss of 17 cents in the year-ago quarter. Higher dayrates of jackups were offset by lower dayrates for drillships and semisubmersibles as well as total rig utilization.
 

Noble Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Noble Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Noble Corporation Quote

Total revenues in the quarter declined to $235.2 million from $363 million in the year-ago quarter. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $226 million. Contract Drilling Services contributed $229.1 million to total revenues, down 35.4% year over year.

Q1 Operating Highlights

Net loss from continuing operations was $142.3 million, compared with a net loss of $301.7 million in the first quarter of 2017. Total rig utilization declined to 47% from the year-earlier quarter’s level of 69%. The average dayrate fell to $195,633 from $202,674 in the year-ago quarter.

The average dayrate for Drillships of $297,833 was also lower than $405,719 in the prior-year quarter. Average capacity utilization fell to 52% from 68% in the year-ago quarter.

The average dayrate for the company's jackups was $153,662 compared with $123,154 in the prior-year quarter. Average capacity utilization declined to 56% from the year-ago quarter’s level of 93%.

The average dayrate for the company's semisubmersibles was $98,766 compared with $131,015 in the prior-year quarter. Average capacity utilization remained unchanged at 17% from the year-ago quarter’s level.

As of Mar 31, 2018, 51% of the company's available rig operating days were committed for 2018, including 38% of floating rig days and 64% of jackup rig days.

Backlog

As of Mar 31, 2018, total backlog was approximately $2.8 billion.

Financials

At the end of the reported quarter, the company had a cash balance of $461.7 million and long-term debt of $3,841.4 million, with debt-to-capitalization ratio of 40.4%.

For 2018, Noble expects capital expenditures at about $150 million.

Q1 Price Performance

During the January-to-March period, Noble’s shares lost 18% compared with the industry’s 14% decline.



 

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Noble currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked players in the same sector are Nine Energy Service, Inc (NINE - Free Report) , Baytex Energy Corp (BTE - Free Report) and Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, Inc. . All three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Nine Energy Service is engaged in delivering onshore completion and production services to unconventional oil and gas resource development. The company pulled off a positive earnings surprise of 6.25% in the preceding quarter.

Baytex Energy is a conventional oil and gas income trust focused on maintaining its production and asset base through internal property development and delivering consistent returns to its unitholders. The company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 77.3% in the trailing three quarters.

Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure manufactures as well as provides patented mobile proppant management systems which unload, store and deliver proppant at oil and natural gas well sites. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 5.26% in the preceding quarters.

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