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What's in the Cards for ConocoPhillips Stock This Earnings Season?

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ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) is set to report third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 31, before the opening bell.

In the last reported quarter, the leading upstream energy player’s adjusted earnings of $1.98 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.06 due to increased total costs and expenses.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

The company beat on earnings in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, delivering an average surprise of 4.85%. This is depicted in the graph below:

ConocoPhillips Price and EPS Surprise

ConocoPhillips Price and EPS Surprise

ConocoPhillips price-eps-surprise | ConocoPhillips Quote

COP’s Estimate Trend

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earnings per share of $1.78 has witnessed two downward movements in the past seven days. The consensus estimate implies a decline of almost 18% from the year-ago reported number.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s revenues of $14.6 billion indicates almost a 2% reduction from the year-ago reported figure.

Factors to Consider for COP

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average spot prices for West Texas Intermediate crude at Cushing, OK, were $81.80 per barrel in July, $76.68 per barrel in August and $70.24 per barrel in September. This indicates that the crude pricing environment in the third quarter was highly favorable for exploration and production activities.

Favorable commodity prices are likely to have aided the upstream energy major's exploration and production activities, which are expected to have increased oil and gas equivalent volumes. Our model predicts total daily production at 1,900 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/D), suggesting 5.2% year-over-year growth.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model doesn’t 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. That is not the case here, as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: COP has an Earnings ESP of -2.97%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks that you may want to consider, as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this reporting cycle.

Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +12.21% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Cheniere Energy is scheduled to release third-quarter earnings on Oct. 31. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LNG’s earnings is pegged at $1.87 per share, suggesting a 21.1% decrease from the prior-year reported figure.

Murphy USA Inc. (MUSA - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.94% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

MUSA is scheduled to release third-quarter earnings on Oct. 30. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $6.64 per share, suggesting a 13.7% decrease from the prior-year reported figure.

Sunoco LP (SUN - Free Report) presently has an Earnings ESP of +13.44% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Sunoco is scheduled to release third-quarter earnings on Nov. 6. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.53 per share, suggesting a 48% decrease from the prior-year reported figure.


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