PDC Energy, Inc. PDCE is set to release first-quarter results on May 4. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter is a profit of $3.18 per share on revenues of $738.9 million.

Let’s delve into the factors that might have influenced this DJ Basin-focused oil producer’s results in the March quarter. But it’s worth taking a look at PDCE’s previous-quarter performance first.

Highlights of Q4 Earnings & Surprise History

In the last-reported quarter, the Denver, CO-based upstream operator handily beat the consensus mark on better-than-anticipated production volumes and higher commodity prices. PDCE had reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.86, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.40. Revenues of $854.6 million generated by the firm also came in above the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 23.6%.

PDC Energy beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, resulting in an earnings surprise of 47.3%, on average. This is depicted in the graph below:

PDC Energy, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

PDC Energy, Inc. price-eps-surprise | PDC Energy, Inc. Quote

Trend in Estimate Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first-quarter bottom line has remained the same in the past seven days. The estimated figure indicates a 125.5% jump year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues, meanwhile, suggests a 158.3% increase from the year-ago period.

Factors to Consider

PDC Energy is expected to have benefited from the surge in oil and natural gas realizations. As a reflection of this price boost, the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first-quarter average sales price for crude and natural gas is pegged at $93 per barrel and $3.19 per thousand cubic feet, up significantly from a year earlier when the company had fetched $56.34 and $2.63. The year-over-year improvement in realizations has most likely buoyed PDC Energy’s revenues and cash flows.

The company is also expected to have reaped the reward of higher production during the quarter. PDCE continues to churn out an impressive output from its assets in the resource-rich Wattenberg Field in Colorado. Consequently, the consensus mark for PDC Energy’s volume is pegged at 17,600 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (MBoe), rising from the prior-year quarter’s level of 15,740 Mboe.

On a somewhat bearish note, the increase in PDC Energy’s costs might have dented the company’s to-be-reported bottom line. PDCE’s total costs and expenses in the fourth quarter increased around 23.8% year over year to $331.6 million. The upward cost trajectory is likely to have continued in the first quarter due to cost inflation and higher production taxes.