Oceaneering International Earnings Surpass Expectations

Oceaneering International released its second-quarter report after the closing bell on Wednesday. The deepwater equipment manufacturer's results surpassed expectations because of solid performances from the company's Subsea Projects and Advanced Technologies segments. That being said, the company is ratcheting down its guidance for the full year, which is the second straight quarter it has pulled back on its own guidance.

A look at the numbersRevenue came in at $810.3 million, 12.6% below last year's second quarter, when it reported $927.4 million in revenue. That said, revenue was up nearly 3% sequentially and it did beat analysts' estimates by $20.9 million. From that revenue, Oceaneering generated $65.5 million of net income, or $0.66 per share. However, net income was negatively affected by a $9 million inventory writedown, as the company has decided to exit the business of manufacturing subsea blowout preventer control systems. In addition, the company had a $6 million negative impact from foreign exchange losses. After adjusting for these impacts, the company's adjusted earnings were $0.76 per share, which beat estimates by $0.08 per share and was well ahead of its earnings guidance range of $0.64-$0.70 per share.

Overall, Oceaneering's operating segments performed fairly well, considering the dramatic downturn in the oil market. We can see that by comparing the year-over-year changes the company experienced in its operating segments in the chart below.

Source: Oceaneering International Earnings Release. Chart by author. Note: In millions of dollars.

As we can see on that chart, the company's Subsea Projects and Advanced Technologies segments delivered solid year-over-year growth in both revenue and operating income. This helped to partially mitigate the weakness in Remotely Operated Vehicles, Subsea Products, and Asset Integrity segments, which all experienced a year-over-year decline in revenue and operating income. That said, it's worth noting that the operating margins the Remotely Operated Vehicle segment did hold up rather well, which helped drive the stronger-than-expected earnings.

A look at outlookDespite these strengths, the company is toning down its full-year guidance largely as a result of weaknesses its seeing in its Subsea Products and Asset Integrity segments. As a result, the company is lowering its full-year earnings guidance by 7% at the midpoint to $2.70-$2.80 per share. Meanwhile, the company expects third-quarter earnings to be in a range of $0.65 to $0.75 per share.

That weakness aside, Oceaneering still believes it's well suited to manage through the current downturn, as it is generating plenty of cash flow and has ample liquidity. Further, it remains bullish on the long-term outlook for deepwater drilling, as it should "continue to play a critical role in global oil supply growth required to replace depletion and meet projected demand."

Investor takeawayOverall, Oceaneering's quarter wasn't that bad, as it was largely able to overcome a very weak energy market to beat estimates on both the top and bottom line. That said, it doesn't see that strength continuing in the second half of the year, as it's lowering its guidance yet again. Still, the company expects to remain solidly profitable, and it sees the long-term outlook for the deepwater marketplace remaining strong as those oil and gas deposits will eventually need to be developed by energy producers to keep the world well supplied with energy.

The article Oceaneering International Earnings Surpass Expectations originally appeared on Fool.com.

Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Oceaneering International. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.