Oppenheimer Reports Intrepid Potash Pre-Announces 1Q11 Sales Below Estimate

According to Oppenheimer, Intrepid Potash IPI pre-announced 1Q11 sales 7 percent below estimate. Oppenheimer reported that IPI pre-announced 7% lower than expected preliminary sales data for 1Q11. “Intrepid sold 190-200K tons of potash at $435-445/ton, vs. our prior estimates of 210K tons at $445/ton. Intrepid sold 45-55K tons of Trio at $195-205/ton vs. our prior estimates of 40K tons at $235/ton. Of the pre-announcedfigures, the price for Trio was off the most relative to our estimate, and we may need to revisit for 2Q11-4Q11, but we'll do so after the company releases final results for 1Q11. Updating our model for the pre-announced figures cuts our 1Q11E by $0.04 or 12% to $0.29, and brings 2011E to $1.42.” Intrepid Potash closed yesterday at $33.10.