Peabody Energy Earnings: Beats Estimates Despite Two Straight Quarters of Profit Drops

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) reported its results for the second quarter. Peabody Energy mines steam coal for sale mainly to electric utilities and metallurgical coal for sale to industrial customers.

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Peabody Energy Corporation Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for the coal fell to $207.8 million (78 cents per share) vs. $292.2 million ($1.05 per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 28.9% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 0.9% to $2 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Peabody Energy Corporation beat the mean analyst estimate of 53 cents per share. It fell short of the average revenue estimate of $2.06 billion.

Quoting Management: “Peabody’s diversified global platform continues to deliver solid cash flows and earnings in a choppy market environment,” said Peabody Energy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce. “While we see some bright spots within the global coal markets, there remain macroeconomic and industry challenges that Peabody is well positioned to weather given our global position and financial strength. In the United States, we have increased earnings contributions even in the face of lower volumes. And in Australia, we are addressing challenges through a number of initiatives to further strengthen our growing long-term platform.”

Key Stats:

The company has now topped analyst estimates for the last three quarters. It beat the mark by 11 cents in the first quarter and by 5 cents in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly negative about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the third quarter has moved down from 67 cents a share to 64 cents over the last ninety days. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved down from $2.67 a share to $2.53 over the last sixty days.

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

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