Europe’s largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc reported fourth-quarter earnings per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items — the market’s preferred measure) — of 10 cents. The bottom line came in below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents and plunged from the year-ago profit of 74 cents per ADS.
The underperformance mainly stemmed from the coronavirus-induced commodity price collapse, together with lower production and refining margins.
The Hague-based Shell reported revenues of $45 billion, which were 47% below fourth-quarter 2019 sales of $85.1 billion.
On a somewhat encouraging note for investors, Royal Dutch Shell boosted its quarterly dividend by about 4% to 17.35 cents — the second consecutive hike in payout — after cutting it by two-thirds last year.
Financial Performance
As of Dec 31, 2020, the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company, which trimmed its payout for the first time since World War II in April last year, had $31.8 billion in cash and $108 billion in debt (including short-term debt). Net debt-to-capitalization ratio was approximately 32.2%, up from 29.3% a year ago.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
During the quarter under review, Shell generated cash flow from operations of $6.3 billion, returned $1.3 billion to its shareholders through dividends and spent $5.2 billion cash on capital projects.
The company’s cash flow from operations fell 39% from the year-earlier level. Meanwhile, the group raked in $882 million in free cash flow during the fourth quarter, slumping from $5.4 billion a year ago.
Guidance
Shell expects first-quarter 2021upstream volumes of 2,400-2,600 MBOE/d, while Integrated Gas production is expected between 900 MBOE/d and 950 MBOE/d. The company also sees Oil Products sales volumes of 4,000-5,000 thousand barrels per day, Chemicals sales volumes of 3,600-3,900 thousand tons and refinery utilization in the range of 73-81%.
Fourth-Quarter Results of Other Oil Supermajors
Shell joins continental rival BP plc (BP - Free Report) and U.S. supermajor Chevron (CVX - Free Report) in reporting an earnings miss. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil (XOM - Free Report) came up with better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings earlier this week.
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Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
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Europe’s largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc reported fourth-quarter earnings per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items — the market’s preferred measure) — of 10 cents. The bottom line came in below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents and plunged from the year-ago profit of 74 cents per ADS.
The underperformance mainly stemmed from the coronavirus-induced commodity price collapse, together with lower production and refining margins.
The Hague-based Shell reported revenues of $45 billion, which were 47% below fourth-quarter 2019 sales of $85.1 billion.
On a somewhat encouraging note for investors, Royal Dutch Shell boosted its quarterly dividend by about 4% to 17.35 cents — the second consecutive hike in payout — after cutting it by two-thirds last year.
Financial Performance
As of Dec 31, 2020, the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company, which trimmed its payout for the first time since World War II in April last year, had $31.8 billion in cash and $108 billion in debt (including short-term debt). Net debt-to-capitalization ratio was approximately 32.2%, up from 29.3% a year ago.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
During the quarter under review, Shell generated cash flow from operations of $6.3 billion, returned $1.3 billion to its shareholders through dividends and spent $5.2 billion cash on capital projects.
The company’s cash flow from operations fell 39% from the year-earlier level. Meanwhile, the group raked in $882 million in free cash flow during the fourth quarter, slumping from $5.4 billion a year ago.
Guidance
Shell expects first-quarter 2021upstream volumes of 2,400-2,600 MBOE/d, while Integrated Gas production is expected between 900 MBOE/d and 950 MBOE/d. The company also sees Oil Products sales volumes of 4,000-5,000 thousand barrels per day, Chemicals sales volumes of 3,600-3,900 thousand tons and refinery utilization in the range of 73-81%.
Fourth-Quarter Results of Other Oil Supermajors
Shell joins continental rival BP plc (BP - Free Report) and U.S. supermajor Chevron (CVX - Free Report) in reporting an earnings miss. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil (XOM - Free Report) came up with better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings earlier this week.
5 Stocks Set to Double
Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.
Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
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