Continental Resources Second Quarter Earnings PREVIEW

Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR) will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, August 8, 2012. Continental Resources is an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations in the North, South, and East regions of the United States.

Continental Resources, Inc. Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for profit of 73 cents per share, a rise of 21.7% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from 83 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It also has dropped from 82 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 17.3% compared to last year’s $3.18.

Past Earnings Performance: Last quarter, the company missed estimates by 8 cents, coming in at net income of 76 cents per share versus a mean estimate of profit of 84 cents per share. In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, the company beat estimates by 9 cents.

Investing Insights: Is TV the Next Bullish Catalyst for Apple’s Stock?

A Look Back: In the first quarter, the company swung to a profit of $69.1 million (38 cents a share) from a loss of $137.2 million (80 cents) a year earlier, but missed analyst estimates. Revenue rose 18.6% to $395.1 million from $333.1 million.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts are projecting a rise of 43.8% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $559.2 million.

Stock Price Performance: Between May 8, 2012 and August 2, 2012, the stock price fell $13.79 (-18.1%), from $76.37 to $62.58. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between February 10, 2012 and February 23, 2012, when shares rose for nine straight days, increasing 23.8% (+$18.28) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 19, 2012 and July 31, 2012 when shares fell for nine straight days, dropping 16.1% (-$12.27) over that span.

Key Stats:

With double-digit revenue growth the past four quarters, this earnings release is a chance to keep that positive trend going. The company has averaged year-over-year revenue growth of 64.5% over the last four quarters.

Analyst Ratings: There are nine out of 17 analysts surveyed (52.9%) rating Continental Resources a buy. Over the past 90 days, the average rating for the stock has moved up from hold to moderate buy.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 0.84 last quarter. The current ratio is an indication of a firm’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands and generally, a ratio less than one could indicate a company may have difficulty meeting current obligations.

Stocks with improving earnings metrics are worthy of your extra attention. In fact, “E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter” is a core component of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework for this very reason. Don’t waste another minute — click here and get our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.

(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

Don’t Miss These Additional Hot Stories:

Is Boeing Stock a DREAM Investment?

Are the Auto Makers Running on Fumes?

Time to Buy or Sell BofA Stock?