Bronco Drilling shares sink on missed Q1 earnings, revenue
Oklahoma City, Ok.-based Bronco Drilling Company Inc.’s (Nasdaq: BRNC) shares sank this morning after the land drilling services provider widely missed analysts’ first quarter earnings and revenues estimates.
For the three months ended March 31, Bronco Drilling reported net income of $11.4 million, or $0.44 per share, on revenue of $78.9 million, compared with net income of $11.3 million on revenue of $56.4 million in the 2006 first quarter.
Seven analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected earnings per share of $0.53 on revenue of $81.6 million.
The revenue increase was largely offset by an increase of expenses to $59.3 million compared with $37.1 million in the prior year first quarter. For example, the firm’s contract drilling costs climbed to $40.8 million, from $28 million in the year-ago period.
By 11:04 AM ET, Bronco Drilling’s stock was down $2.17, or 11.4%, to $16.84 on exceptionally high volume of 1.3 million shares. The company’s average three-month daily volume is 547,000 shares.
Bronco’s stock has traded between $13.53 (on Jan. 11) and $29.33 (on May 12) in the past year.
On April 27, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage of the firm with an “Outperform” rating.
For 2006, Bronco Drilling recorded net income of $59.8 million on revenue of $285.8 million.
