Amplify Energy (AMPY) Reports Q1 Loss, Top Revenue Estimates

Amplify Energy (AMPY) reported quarterly loss of $0.06 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.03. For comparison, a year earlier the loss was $1.27 per share. These numbers have been adjusted for one-off items.

This quarterly report presented an earnings surprise of -300%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this oil and gas company would post a loss of $0.07 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.74, delivering a surprise of 1,157.14%.

The company has topped consensus EPS estimates twice over the last four quarters.

Amplify Energy, which belongs to the Zacks Oil and Gas – Exploration and Production – United States industry, posted revenues of $79.87 million for the quarter ended March 2023, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 25.21%. For comparison, revenues from a year ago amounted to $111.43 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates twice over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the immediate share price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management’s commentary on the earnings call.

Amplify Energy shares have lost about 24.6% year-to-date compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 7.3%.

What’s next for Amplify Energy?

While Amplify Energy has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors’ minds is: what’s next for the stock?

There are no simple answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this issue is the company’s earnings prospects. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of the earnings release, the estimate revision trend for Amplify Energy is mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions may change following the company’s just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. Therefore, the company’s stock is expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the next quarters and the current fiscal year change in the coming days. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.33 on $81.54 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $1.05 on $318.77 million in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be aware that the outlook for the industry may also have a significant impact on share prices. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, the Oil & Gas – Exploration & Production – United States industry is currently in the bottom 23% of the 250+ Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Yet another company in the same industry, Coterra Energy (CTRA), has yet to report results for the quarter ending March 2023. The results are expected to be released on May 4.

The independent oil and gas company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.71 per share in its upcoming report, representing a year-over-year change of -29.7%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 8.4% down to the current level over the last 30 days.

Coterra Energy’s revenue is expected to be $1.62 billion, down 3.6% from the year-ago quarter.

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