James River Coal Co. Earnings: Here’s Why the Stock is Falling Now

James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ:JRCC) had a loss and missed Wall Street’s expectations, AND came up short on beating the revenue expectation. The revenue miss is a negative sign to shareholders seeking high growth out of the company. Shares are down 13.73%.

James River Coal Co. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Adjusted Earnings Per Share decreased to $-1.59 in the quarter versus EPS of $0.02 in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Decreased 35.05% to $232 million from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: James River Coal Co. reported adjusted EPS loss of $1.59 per share. By that measure, the company missed the mean analyst estimate of $-1.41. It missed the average revenue estimate of $244.63 million.

Quoting Management: Peter T. Socha, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The year 2012 will be remembered as one of the most difficult years in the history of the U.S. coal industry. The domestic thermal coal market went through a third consecutive year of soft market conditions due to weak economic conditions and competitive pressures from natural gas production. The met coal market collapsed during the middle of the year due to weak international markets in both Asia and Europe. As we look ahead to 2013, both of these markets are showing some marginal improvement. The thermal market, although still weak, is starting to improve due primarily to reduced production by the coal industry and slightly better weather conditions. The met market is seeing clear signs of increased demand from Asia.”

Key Stats (on next page)…