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Expand Energy Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Strong Production
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Key Takeaways
EXE posted Q1 EPS of $3.83, beating estimates, with $3.3B revenues also above expectations.
EXE output rose 9.5% to 7,436 MMcfe/d, while gas prices jumped 37.4%, beating estimates.
EXE signed a 20-year LNG deal for 1.15M tons yearly while boosting cash flow and reducing debt.
Expand Energy Corporation (EXE - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $3.83, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.69. The company’s bottom line increased from the year-ago adjusted profit of $2.02, fueled by strong production and higher natural gas price realization.
Expand Energy’s ‘natural gas, oil and NGL’ revenues of $3.3 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.1 billion. The top line was also higher than the year-ago figure of $2.3 billion.
Expand Energy Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
During the first quarter of 2026, Expand Energy signed a 20-year Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Delfin FLNG Vessel 1 for about 1.15 million tons of LNG offtake per year, extending the company’s market reach to growing global demand centers.
EXE’s Production & Price Realizations
The company reported the average first-quarter daily production (comprising 93% natural gas) of 7,436 million cubic feet of gas equivalent (MMcfe/day), increasing 9.5% from the year-ago level of 6,788 MMcfe/day. The daily production levels surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 7,431 MMcfe/day. Natural gas volume for the period came in at 6,914 MMcfe/day, up 10.6% year over year. The consensus mark called for 6,864 MMcf/day of natural gas. EXE’s oil production was 15 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), while NGL output totaled 72 MBbl/d.
The average sales price for natural gas during the first quarter was $4.92 per Mcf, up 37.4% from the prior-year realization of $3.58 per Mcf, and it was also above the consensus mark of $4.75. The average realized oil price was $64.37 per barrel compared with the consensus mark of $62. Meanwhile, the average realized NGL price was $25.49 per barrel, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of$25.36.
EXE’s Q1 Costs & Expenses
Total operating expenses in the quarter rose to $2.9 billion from the year-ago quarter’s $2.5 billion. This was mainly due to an increase in gathering, processing and transportation, exploration and marketing expenses. The company’s gathering, processing and transportation, exploration and marketing costs of $690 million, $14 million and $1.1 billion during the first quarter of 2026 rose from the year-ago levels of $563 million, $7 million and $919 million, respectively.
Dividend & Share Repurchases
In the first quarter, the company plans to pay its quarterly base dividend of 57.5 cents per share on June 04, 2026, to its shareholders of record on May 14. Furthermore, Expand Energy plans to focus on reducing debt in 2026 to reinforce its balance sheet and enhance financial flexibility during market lows while continuing to reward shareholders through its base dividend and share buybacks.
Year-to-date through April 24, 2026, Expand Energy has redeemed approximately $1.3 billion of gross debt and executed $150 million of share repurchases.
Financial Position
Cash flow from operations totaled $2.4 billion, which almost doubled from the prior-year quarter levels of $1.1 billion, while Expand Energy’s capital expenditure totaled $707 million, leading to a free cash flow of $1.7 billion. It also paid out $141 million in dividends during the period.
As of March 31, 2026, the company had $2.2 million in cash and cash equivalents. Expand Energy had a long-term debt of $4.1 billion, reflecting a debt-to-capitalization of 17.5%.
Expand Energy’s Guidance for Q2 & 2026
Expand Energy is targeting an average daily production in the range of 7,400-7,500 MMcfe for the second quarter of 2026 and 7,400-7,600 MMcfe for full-year 2026. The company has budgeted its capital spending between $770 million and $845 million for the upcoming quarter, while for 2026, the figure is projected to be between $2.75 billion and $2.95 billion.
While we have discussed EXE’s first-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at three other reports in this space.
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN - Free Report) reported a first-quarter 2026 adjusted net loss of 6 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a 10-cent loss. However, the bottom line decreased from the year-ago quarter's breakeven result due to a decrease in operating income in its Drilling Services, Completion Services and Drilling Products segments.
Total revenues of $1.1 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.1%. This was driven by higher-than-expected revenues from the Drilling Services and Completion Services segments. The Drilling Services and Completion Services segments reported revenues of $351.7 million and $679.6 million, which beat the consensus mark of $350 million and $37.1 million, respectively. However, the top line decreased about 12.8% year over year. This underperformance can be attributed to the decrease in year-over-year segment revenues.
As of March 31, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents worth $337.2 million and long-term debt of $1.2 billion. Its debt-to-capitalization was 27.8%.
NOV Inc. (NOV - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 15 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents. The bottom line also decreased 21% from the year-ago quarter’s 19 cents.
The oil and gas equipment and services company’s total revenues of $2.05 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $2 million but fell 2.4% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $2.1 billion.
The lower-than-expected quarterly earnings of the company were primarily attributable to conflict in the Middle East, which disrupted logistics, delayed deliveries and increased operational costs.
As of March 31, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.3 billion and long-term debt of $1.7 billion with a debt-to-capitalization of 21.2%. NOV had $1.5 billion available on its primary revolving credit facility during the same time.
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR - Free Report) reported a first-quarter 2026 adjusted loss of $1.54 per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.39. Additionally, the metric is significantly above the prior-year quarter’s reported loss of $7.5 per share. This outperformance was mainly driven by higher adjusted operating income from its International Drilling segment.
The oil and gas drilling company’s operating revenues of $783.5 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $779 million. The top line also increased from the year-ago quarter’s $736.2 million, primarily supported by higher contributions from the U.S. Drilling, International Drilling and Drilling Solutions segments.
As of March 31, 2026, Nabors had $500.9 million in cash and short-term investments. Long-term debt was about $2.1 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 78.8%.
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Expand Energy Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Strong Production
Key Takeaways
Expand Energy Corporation (EXE - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $3.83, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.69. The company’s bottom line increased from the year-ago adjusted profit of $2.02, fueled by strong production and higher natural gas price realization.
Expand Energy’s ‘natural gas, oil and NGL’ revenues of $3.3 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.1 billion. The top line was also higher than the year-ago figure of $2.3 billion.
Expand Energy Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Expand Energy Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Expand Energy Corporation Quote
During the first quarter of 2026, Expand Energy signed a 20-year Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Delfin FLNG Vessel 1 for about 1.15 million tons of LNG offtake per year, extending the company’s market reach to growing global demand centers.
EXE’s Production & Price Realizations
The company reported the average first-quarter daily production (comprising 93% natural gas) of 7,436 million cubic feet of gas equivalent (MMcfe/day), increasing 9.5% from the year-ago level of 6,788 MMcfe/day. The daily production levels surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 7,431 MMcfe/day. Natural gas volume for the period came in at 6,914 MMcfe/day, up 10.6% year over year. The consensus mark called for 6,864 MMcf/day of natural gas. EXE’s oil production was 15 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), while NGL output totaled 72 MBbl/d.
The average sales price for natural gas during the first quarter was $4.92 per Mcf, up 37.4% from the prior-year realization of $3.58 per Mcf, and it was also above the consensus mark of $4.75. The average realized oil price was $64.37 per barrel compared with the consensus mark of $62. Meanwhile, the average realized NGL price was $25.49 per barrel, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of$25.36.
EXE’s Q1 Costs & Expenses
Total operating expenses in the quarter rose to $2.9 billion from the year-ago quarter’s $2.5 billion. This was mainly due to an increase in gathering, processing and transportation, exploration and marketing expenses. The company’s gathering, processing and transportation, exploration and marketing costs of $690 million, $14 million and $1.1 billion during the first quarter of 2026 rose from the year-ago levels of $563 million, $7 million and $919 million, respectively.
Dividend & Share Repurchases
In the first quarter, the company plans to pay its quarterly base dividend of 57.5 cents per share on June 04, 2026, to its shareholders of record on May 14. Furthermore, Expand Energy plans to focus on reducing debt in 2026 to reinforce its balance sheet and enhance financial flexibility during market lows while continuing to reward shareholders through its base dividend and share buybacks.
Year-to-date through April 24, 2026, Expand Energy has redeemed approximately $1.3 billion of gross debt and executed $150 million of share repurchases.
Financial Position
Cash flow from operations totaled $2.4 billion, which almost doubled from the prior-year quarter levels of $1.1 billion, while Expand Energy’s capital expenditure totaled $707 million, leading to a free cash flow of $1.7 billion. It also paid out $141 million in dividends during the period.
As of March 31, 2026, the company had $2.2 million in cash and cash equivalents. Expand Energy had a long-term debt of $4.1 billion, reflecting a debt-to-capitalization of 17.5%.
Expand Energy’s Guidance for Q2 & 2026
Expand Energy is targeting an average daily production in the range of 7,400-7,500 MMcfe for the second quarter of 2026 and 7,400-7,600 MMcfe for full-year 2026. The company has budgeted its capital spending between $770 million and $845 million for the upcoming quarter, while for 2026, the figure is projected to be between $2.75 billion and $2.95 billion.
Expand Energy currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Important Earnings at a Glance
While we have discussed EXE’s first-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at three other reports in this space.
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN - Free Report) reported a first-quarter 2026 adjusted net loss of 6 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a 10-cent loss. However, the bottom line decreased from the year-ago quarter's breakeven result due to a decrease in operating income in its Drilling Services, Completion Services and Drilling Products segments.
Total revenues of $1.1 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.1%. This was driven by higher-than-expected revenues from the Drilling Services and Completion Services segments. The Drilling Services and Completion Services segments reported revenues of $351.7 million and $679.6 million, which beat the consensus mark of $350 million and $37.1 million, respectively. However, the top line decreased about 12.8% year over year. This underperformance can be attributed to the decrease in year-over-year segment revenues.
As of March 31, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents worth $337.2 million and long-term debt of $1.2 billion. Its debt-to-capitalization was 27.8%.
NOV Inc. (NOV - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 15 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents. The bottom line also decreased 21% from the year-ago quarter’s 19 cents.
The oil and gas equipment and services company’s total revenues of $2.05 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $2 million but fell 2.4% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $2.1 billion.
The lower-than-expected quarterly earnings of the company were primarily attributable to conflict in the Middle East, which disrupted logistics, delayed deliveries and increased operational costs.
As of March 31, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.3 billion and long-term debt of $1.7 billion with a debt-to-capitalization of 21.2%. NOV had $1.5 billion available on its primary revolving credit facility during the same time.
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR - Free Report) reported a first-quarter 2026 adjusted loss of $1.54 per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.39. Additionally, the metric is significantly above the prior-year quarter’s reported loss of $7.5 per share. This outperformance was mainly driven by higher adjusted operating income from its International Drilling segment.
The oil and gas drilling company’s operating revenues of $783.5 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $779 million. The top line also increased from the year-ago quarter’s $736.2 million, primarily supported by higher contributions from the U.S. Drilling, International Drilling and Drilling Solutions segments.
As of March 31, 2026, Nabors had $500.9 million in cash and short-term investments. Long-term debt was about $2.1 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 78.8%.