The Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL) share price has been moving in circles in recent times.
So far on Monday, there's been no change to Friday's market closing price of $22.19 a share, a 0.77% rally. However, despite the gain, the company's shares are still around 5% lower over the past month.
Below, we take a closer look to see what we can learn from the Woodside share price performance last earnings season.
What happened in FY20?
In mid-February 2021, Woodside delivered its FY20 full-year results to the ASX, reporting mixed numbers across key metrics.
Here's a quick summary of the highlights mentioned in the company's FY20 release:
- Record full-year production output of 100.3 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe)
- Operating revenue dropped 26% to US$3,600 million on the back of lower volume-weighted average price of boe
- Net loss after tax of US$4,028 million, driven by non-cash impairments and onerous contract provisions
- Final dividend of US$0.12 cents per share, bringing the full-year FY20 dividend to US$0.38 cents per share, down 58% year-on-year.
As a whole, investors were disappointed with Woodside's performance, sending its shares from $25.96 on 17 February to $23.53 in the days following.
However, the Woodside share price slump was short-lived, quickly rebounding back to above the $25 mark in late February. It was only from mid-April that its shares really started to sink lower after Woodside's CEO succession.
What should investors look out for this earnings season?
With Woodside scheduled to report its FY21 half-year results tomorrow, Tuesday 17 August, investors may be wondering what to expect.
According to Goldman Sachs, its team of analysts are forecasting a robust result for the start of the 2021 financial year.
Woodside is expected to report 46.3 million boe for H1 FY21, down 7.5% on the record prior corresponding period of 50.1 million boe.
However, total sales revenue is projected to soar to US$2,406 million, representing a 30.5% increase on H1 FY20 (US$1,844 million). This is underpinned by realised pricing of boe to US$53.10, a 42.4% jump from the comparable period (US$37.30 boe).
Woodside is anticipated to register operating revenue of US$2,493 million, up from US$1,907 million in H1 FY21.
On the bottom line, underlying Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) is predicted to come in at US$485 million. This is a 60% improvement from the US$303 million achieved in the prior corresponding period.
The company is estimated to pay an interim dividend of US$0.40 cents per share, up from US$0.26 cents per share in H1 FY20.
Woodside share price snapshot
In 2021, the Woodside share price has continued to move sideways, reflecting a 2.4% loss for the period. This is a far cry from when the company's shares were trading almost 60% higher than today's price in January 2020.
Woodside commands a market capitalisation of around $21.3 billion, making it the 19th largest company on the ASX.
