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ConocoPhillips (COP) to Report Q3 Earnings: What's in Store?

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ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) is set to report third-quarter 2022 results on Nov 3, before the opening bell.

In the last reported quarter, the upstream energy company’s adjusted earnings per share of $3.91 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.78, owing to increased oil-equivalent production volumes and realized commodity prices.

ConocoPhillips beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the bottom line in the trailing four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 5.8%, on average. This is depicted in the graph below:

ConocoPhillips Price and EPS Surprise

 

ConocoPhillips Price and EPS Surprise

ConocoPhillips price-eps-surprise | ConocoPhillips Quote

Let’s see how things have shaped up prior to the announcement.

Estimate Trend

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s third-quarter earnings per share of $3.41 has witnessed one upward revision and five downward movements in the past 30 days. The estimate suggests a year-over-year improvement of 92.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for COP’s revenues for the September-end quarter is pegged at $17.1 billion, implying a year-over-year rise of 46.8%.

Factors to Note

In the September-end quarter of 2022, crude oil and natural prices were significantly higher than the prior-year quarter. Healthier commodity prices are likely to have aided ConocoPhillips’ bottom line in the to-be-reported quarter since it is a leading exploration and production company globally.

As a reflection of the price boost, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third-quarter average realized crude oil price is pegged at $98 per barrel, indicating a significant increase from a year earlier when the company recorded $70.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ConocoPhillips’ daily crude oil production is pegged at 900 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), suggesting an improvement from 815 MBbl/d reported in the year-ago quarter. Our estimate for ConocoPhillips’ daily crude oil production is pegged at 887.7 MBbl/d, also indicating an improvement from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Higher commodity prices and crude production are likely to have aided ConocoPhillips’ third-quarter performance.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for ConocoPhillips this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. As you can see, that is not the case here.

Earnings ESP: ConocoPhillips has an Earnings ESP of -1.24%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is currently pegged at earnings of $3.37 per share, whereas the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pinned at $3.41 per share. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: COP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some companies from the Energy space that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the upcoming quarterly reports:

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.79% and a Zacks Rank of 3.

Murphy Oil is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Nov 3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MUR’s earnings is pegged at $1.56 per share, suggesting an improvement from the prior-year reported figure.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG - Free Report) is set to release third-quarter 2022 results on Nov 3.  LNG has an Earnings ESP of +1.01% and a Zacks Rank #2.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2022 earnings of Cheniere Energy is $5.45 per share, which indicates a massive improvement from the year-ago period’s reported number.

Diamondback Energy (FANG - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.63% and a Zacks Rank of 3.

Diamondback Energy is scheduled to release third-quarter results on Nov 7. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FANG’s quarterly earnings is pegged at $6.45 per share, suggesting an increase of 119.4% from the prior-year reported figure.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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