Petroleum Development Corporation (NASDAQ:PETD) climbed to a profit in the second quarter, but still came up short of analyst expectations. Petroleum Development Corporation is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and marketing of oil (NYSE:USO) and natural gas (NYSE:UNG).

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Petroleum Development Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Second Quarter

Results: Swung to a profit of $9.2 million (39 cents per diluted share) in the quarter. Petroleum Development Corporation had a net loss of $2.7 million or a loss 15 cents per share in the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 50% to $113.4 million from the year earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: PETD reported an adjusted net loss of 10 cents per share. By that measure, the company fell short of mean estimate of 2 cents per share. It beat the average revenue estimate of $91.9 million.

Quoting Management: James M. Trimble, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We were extremely pleased with our results from ongoing operations in the second quarter. Production is increasing from all of our core areas and our drilling program is on target with the upwardly revised capital budget we recently announced. We are also on target to complete our accelerated partnership repurchase program by the end of 2012.”

Key Stats:

A year-over-year revenue increase last quarter snaps a streak of two consecutive quarters of revenue declines. Revenue fell 7.5% in the first quarter and fell 3.9% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

The company fell short of estimates last quarter after beating the mark the quarter before with net income of 6 cents versus a mean estimate of net income of 4 cents per share.

PETD’s profit in the latest quarter follows losses in the previous two quarters. The company reported a net loss of $19.9 million in the first quarter and a loss of $18.1 million in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

Competitors to Watch: Pinnacle Gas Resources, Inc. (PINN), Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR), BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P. (NASDAQ:BBEP), Legacy Reserves LP (NASDAQ:LGCY), PostRock Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:PSTR), Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), Pioneer Southwest Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE:PSE), and NGAS Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:NGAS).

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(Source: Xignite Financials)

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