Does Prairie Provident Resources Inc's (TSE:PPR) Earnings Growth Make It An Outperformer?

Assessing Prairie Provident Resources Inc's (TSX:PPR) past track record of performance is a valuable exercise for investors. It enables us to reflect on whether the company has met or exceed expectations, which is a great indicator for future performance. Today I will assess PPR's recent performance announced on 31 December 2017 and evaluate these figures to its longer term trend and industry movements. View our latest analysis for Prairie Provident Resources

Did PPR's recent earnings growth beat the long-term trend and the industry?

I look at the ‘latest twelve-month’ data, which annualizes the latest 6-month earnings release, or some times, the latest annual report is already the most recent financial data. This allows me to assess many different companies in a uniform manner using the most relevant data points. For Prairie Provident Resources, its latest earnings (trailing twelve month) is -CA$47.80M, which compared to the previous year's figure, has become less negative. Given that these values may be fairly short-term thinking, I have created an annualized five-year figure for Prairie Provident Resources's net income, which stands at -CA$49.28M. This means though net income is negative, it has become less negative over the years.

We can further analyze Prairie Provident Resources's loss by looking at what the industry has been experiencing over the past few years. Each year, for the last five years Prairie Provident Resources has seen an annual decline in revenue of -5.97%, on average. This adverse movement is a driver of the company's inability to reach breakeven. Has the entire industry experienced this headwind? Inspecting growth from a sector-level, the Canadian oil and gas industry has been growing, albeit, at a subdued single-digit rate of 3.57% in the prior twelve months, and a flatter -0.20% over the past five. This suggests that despite the fact that Prairie Provident Resources is presently loss-making, any near-term headwind the industry is enduring, Prairie Provident Resources is less exposed compared to its peers.

What does this mean?

Though Prairie Provident Resources's past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Companies that incur net loss is always hard to forecast what will occur going forward, and when. The most useful step is to assess company-specific issues Prairie Provident Resources may be facing and whether management guidance has dependably been met in the past. I recommend you continue to research Prairie Provident Resources to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:

• 1. Financial Health: Is PPR’s operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why we’ve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here.
• 2. Valuation: What is PPR worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether PPR is currently mispriced by the market.
• 3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 December 2017. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.