Earnings Preview: Chesapeake Energy Corporation

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK) is slated to report Q4 earnings Thursday with a conference call scheduled for Friday, February 22 at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for a profit of 81c on revenue of $1.95B. The consensus range is 73c to 94c for EPS, and revenue of $1.44B to $2.29B, according to First Call. Chesapeake outperformed in Q3, reporting EPS/revenue of 69c/$2.03B vs. a consensus of 60c/$1.65B.

When Chesapeake announced its Q3 results, it raised its production forecasts for 2007 to 21% to 23% from 18% to 22%, and for 2008 to 18% to 22% from 14% to 16%. The 2009 production forecast of 12% to 16% was also reaffirmed. Investors and analysts will listen to this quarter's call for updates on the company's 2008 and 2009 production forecasts, as well as for color on the Q4 and 2007 proved reserves, which were announced on February 14.

Analyst Views

On that day, Wachovia upgraded Chesapeake to Outperform from Market Perform, based on relative valuation and a positive outlook for this quarter's results. Additionally, on February 20, Jeffries initiated Chesapeake with a Buy and a target of $54, as it believes the company can post group-leading organic growth in production and reserves over the next several years.