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What Awaits Occidental Petroleum (OXY) This Earnings Season?

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Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY - Free Report) will release fourth-quarter 2016 financial results before the market opens on Feb 9. Last quarter, this independent oil and gas operator reported a negative earnings surprise of 15.38%. Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.

Factors to Consider

The decision taken by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in late Nov 2016 to cap the production of crude oil, which was aimed at tackling the supply glut that had been wrecking havoc on the oil industry for the last two years, led to an immediate surge in oil prices. This will significantly boost Occidental Petroleum’s top line in the fourth quarter.

Production in the fourth quarter is expected to be between 600,000 and 610,000 BOE per day. However, Permian Resources production is anticipated to decline slightly during this period.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Occidental Petroleum is likely to beat estimates this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP  and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. But that is not the case here, as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: The Most Accurate estimate stands at a loss of 3 cents, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at a loss of 2 cents, resulting in an Earnings ESP of -50.00%.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Occidental carries a Zacks Rank #3. Though the Zacks Rank #3 increases the possibility of a beat, its negative ESP makes a surprise prediction difficult.

Note that we caution against Sell-rated stocks (#4 or #5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few players in the Oils-Energy sector that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +3.03% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 27.

Archrock Partners, L.P. is expected to report fourth-quarter 2016 earnings on Feb 23. It has an Earnings ESP of +14.29% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Concho Resources Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +11.11% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is slated to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 21.

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