Montage (MR) Gears Up For Q3 Earnings: What's In Store?

Montage Resources Corporation (NYSE:MR) is scheduled to release third-quarter 2019 results on Nov 7, after the closing bell.

The upstream energy company has reported positive earnings surprises in three of the trailing four quarters, with the average being more than 100%. In the last reported quarter, the company reported earnings per share of 41 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 9 cents and rising from the year-ago quarter’s 15 cents.

Let’s see how things have shaped up prior to the upcoming announcement.

Trend in Estimate Revisions

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earnings of 15 cents has been unchanged over the past week. The figure indicates a 75% year-over-year decline.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter revenues is pegged at $159.9 million, suggesting an improvement of almost 23% from the year-ago reported figure.

Eclipse Resources Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Factors at Play

Being an exploration and production player with natural gas contributing majorly to its total production volumes, weakness in the commodity pricing scenario is likely to have hurt Montage’s bottom line. However, the upstream energy firm expects third-quarter production to increase year over year, which will most likely offset the negative. Notably, the company projects production in the September quarter of 2019 in the band of 600 to 615 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/D). This suggests a significant improvement from 346.4 MMcfe/D in the third quarter of 2018.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Montage this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Montage has an ESP of +20.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Energy Stocks With Favorable Combination

Here are some companies from the energy space that have the right combination of elements to deliver an earnings beat in the upcoming quarterly release:

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSX:CNQ) has an Earnings ESP of +7.42% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is slated to announce third-quarter 2019 earnings on Nov 7. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) has an Earnings ESP of +0.43% and is a #3 Ranked player. The company is scheduled to release third-quarter 2019 earnings on Nov 5.

Berry Petroleum Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY) has an Earnings ESP of +0.21% and is a #3 Ranked player. The company is scheduled to release third-quarter 2019 earnings on Nov 7.

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