Dahlman Rose Has Hold On Noble Corporation (NE)

Dahlman Rose & Co. has a Hold rating on shares of Noble Corporation NE after it reported earnings. In a note to clients, Dahlman Rose writes, "Noble's results were shy of forecasts despite better than expected revenues due to higher operating and interest costs. We expect this will have neutral implications for the shares. Noble reported continuing 1Q11 EPS of $0.15, after excluding $0.06 in after-tax gains related to the substitution of the Noble Phoenix drillship for the Noble Muravlenko in Brazil. Results were below our $0.18 estimate and the Street forecast of $0.17. Contract drilling revenues of $542.6MM were higher than our $532.0MM forecast, which had a positive impact of $0.04 compared to our forecast. Operating expenses of $306.3MM were higher than our $295.0MM estimate and above management's previous guidance of $290-$300MM. This had a negative impact of $0.05. Interest expenses were $19.0MM compared to our $12.2MM forecast, which had a negative impact of $0.03." Shares of NE gained 84 cents yesterday to close at $43.43, a gain of nearly 2%.