Triangle Petroleum Corporation (TPLM): Will This Bakken Play Jump Again After Earnings? EOX & KOG

Small cap Triangle Petroleum Corporation (NYSEMKT: TPLM), just like its peers Emerald Oil Inc (NYSEMKT: EOX) and Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE: KOG), is focused on the Williston Basin's Bakken and Three Forks formations and the company is scheduled to release second quarter fiscal year 2014 financial results after the close of trading next Monday. And the last time earnings were reported, shares jumped around 10% plus management gave some rosy commentary for investors. With that in mind, should investors in Triangle Petroleum Corporation be ready for another earnings report that excites the bulls?

What is Small Cap Triangle Petroleum Corporation?

Based in Denver, small cap Triangle Petroleum Corporation is an oil and gas exploration and development company focused solely on the Bakken oil play in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana. The company entered the basin in early 2010 and has since acquired approximately 86,000 net acres prospective for the Bakken and Three Forks formations.

For reference, Emerald Oil has approximately 54,000 net acres in the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana and has identified approximately 279 net potential drilling locations while Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp's oil and natural gas reserves and operations are primarily concentrated in the Williston Basin and the Green River Basin of Wyoming and Colorado.

What You Need to Know About Triangle Petroleum Corporation Ahead of Earnings

The last time Triangle Petroleum Corporation reported earnings (back in June), shares jumped around 10% after the company beat earnings expectations when revenues of $34,294M verses $5,241M for the same period last year plus net income of $5,211M verses a net loss of $3,324M were reported. In the earnings conference call, the CEO gave the following rather glowing assessment:  

…every aspect of our business is improving. Production is up, costs are coming down. We're drilling wells faster….. Management expects drilling costs to decline going forward, and there will be a benefit from gas sales that started in June.

At the end of his presentation, he added:

Our objective is to be the low-cost producer in the basin. We want to make money at the lowest possible oil price. We want to be sustainable over the long term. We believe the way we're going to do that is through vertical integration. We think they're finally, starting to see that in our numbers and you're going to see more of that to come….. So we're excited. The team is in place. Morale is high. We're continuing to improve, and we look forward to this call next quarter and the quarter after.

There hasn't been much news from Triangle Petroleum Corporation since the last earnings report beyond a registered offering of 15,000,000 shares of common stock which raised approximately $88.4 million after expenses. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund acquisitions of certain other oil and gas properties contiguous to its core McKenzie County, North Dakota acreage; its drilling and development program; and for other general corporate purposes.

Share Performance: Triangle Petroleum Corporation vs. EOX & EOG

On Tuesday, small cap Triangle Petroleum Corporation rose 6.02% to $7.05 (TPLM has a 52 week trading range of $4.85 to $7.93 a share) for a market cap of $506.32 million plus shares were rising more than 2% in after hours or premarket trading. Triangle Petroleum Corporation is also up 24.8% since the start of the year, up 2.62% over the past year and down 6% over the past five years.

Emerald Oil is up 30.5% since the start of the year, down 23% over the past year and down 3.6% over the past five years while Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp is up 17.7% since the start of the year, up 12.5% over the past year and up 246.9% over the past five years.  

As you can see from the above chart, Emerald Oil was a volatile high flier for awhile followed by Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp while Triangle Petroleum Corporation has been a steady but otherwise flat performer.

Finally, here is a look at the latest technical charts for all three Bakken or Three Forks formations plays:

The Bottom Line. Given the optimism from Triangle Petroleum Corporation's management during the last earnings call, this earnings report will be all about delivering on that optimism – meaning investors and traders alike will be watching closely.