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Murphy Oil (MUR) to Report Q2 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

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Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR - Free Report) is set to report second-quarter 2018 results, after market close on Aug 8. In the last reported quarter, the company posted a positive earnings surprise of 4.55%.

Factors to Consider

Murphy Oil has adopted capital investment initiatives to drive growth. The company expects second-quarter 2018 production in the range of 166,000 to 169,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day (boepd). Strong production volumes from offshore assets in Malaysia and the Gulf of Mexico as well as onshore U.S. assets are expected to boost oil production. The second quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate for crude oil from Malaysia and the United States stands at 75,830 barrels of oil per day.

Murphy Oil expects expenses to be a little higher during the second quarter due to routine maintenance at several of its offshore facilities.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues of $598 million calls for an increase of 26.2% over the prior-year quarter’s reported figure. Also, the consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at 35 cents. The company reported a loss of 11 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Murphy Oil Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Earnings Whispers

A stock needs to have a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for an earnings beat. However, Murphy Oil does not have the right combination for an earnings beat as elaborated below.

Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank:  The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.

However, we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing a negative estimate revision momentum.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few players in the same industry that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

Ring Energy, Inc. (REI - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.18% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is slated to report second-quarter 2018 earnings on Aug 14.

Ultra Petroleum Corp. has an Earnings ESP of +16.67% and a Zacks Rank #3. It is slated to report second-quarter 2018 earnings on Aug 9. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +5.25% and a Zacks Rank #2. It is slated to report second-quarter 2018 earnings on Aug 9.

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