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APA Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Production and Price Gains

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APA Corporation (APA - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2021 earnings per share — excluding one-time items — of 70 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 54 cents. In the year-earlier quarter, the company reported a loss of 74 cents per share. The outperformance reflects stronger price realizations and better-than-expected domestic production. The average daily U.S. output came in at 241,525 barrels of oil-equivalent per day (BOE/d), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 241,000 BOE/d.

Revenues of $1.78 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.66 billion and also rose 137% from the year-ago quarter’s sales of $752 million.

Production & Selling Prices

Production of oil and natural gas averaged 395,186 BOE/d, which comprises 64.8% liquids. The figure dropped 9% from the year-ago quarter’s level.

The U.S. output (accounting for 61% of the total) fell 4% year over year to 241,525 BOE/d while production from the company’s international operations decreased 17% to 153,661 BOE/d. APA’s oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) production was 256,166 barrels per day (Bbl/d). Natural gas output totaled 834,119 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d).

The average realized crude oil price during the second quarter was $66.40 per barrel, up 157.7% from the year-ago realization of $25.77. Moreover, the number came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $66. The average realized natural gas price increased to $2.99 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) from $1.68 in the year-ago period and also topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.75.

APA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

APA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

APA Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | APA Corporation Quote

Costs & Financial Position

APA’s second-quarter lease operating expenses totaled $311 million, up 17.8% from the year-ago level. Moreover, total operating expenses jumped 27.2% from the level recorded in the corresponding period of 2020 to $1.29 billion. Apart from a rise in lease operating expenses, the deterioration was due to higher purchased oil and gas expenses and steep impairment charges.

During the quarter under review, APA generated $969 million of cash from operating activities. It spent $257 million on upstream capital expenditures. The company reported an adjusted operating cash flow of $757 million in the second quarter.

As of Jun 30, APA had $1.25 billion worth cash and cash equivalents, and $7.76 billion of long-term debt.

Guidance

The U.S. energy explorer revises its 2021 outlook and expects to generate $1.7 billion as free cash flow this year, majority of which will be used to pay down its net debt.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

APA currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Other top-ranked players in the  energy  space include Devon Energy Corporation (DVN - Free Report) , Matador Resources Company (MTDR - Free Report) and Continental Resources, Inc. , each presently flaunting a Zacks Rank of 1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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