U.S. energy operator APA Corporation (APA Quick QuoteAPA - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.38 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01. The bottom line rose from the year-ago adjusted profit of $1.06. The outperformance was primarily driven by higher realized oil prices and lower year-over-year expenses.

Revenues of $2.2 billion were down 15.2% from the year-ago quarter’s sales but beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.8%.

APA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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

Meanwhile, APA continues to reward its shareholders, having paid out $88 million in dividends during the first quarter of 2026.

APA’s Q1 Production & Selling Prices

Production of oil and natural gas averaged 442,352 BOE/d, which comprised 69% liquids. The figure was down 6% from the year-ago quarter but surpassed our expectation of 439,997 BOE/d.

U.S. output (accounting for 60% of the total) fell 11% year over year to 264,720 BOE/d, but production from the company’s international operations increased 4.1% to 177,632 BOE/d. APA’s oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) production was 304,947 barrels per day (Bbl/d). Natural gas output totaled 824,426 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d).

The average realized crude oil price during the first quarter was $78.69 per barrel, up 6.7% from the year-ago realization of $73.73. The number also significantly surpassed our projection of $56.74. The average realized natural gas price fell to $2.12 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) from $2.81 in the year-ago period and missed our estimate of $3.62.

Costs & Financial Position

APA’s first-quarter lease operating expenses totaled $362 million, down 11% from $407 million in the year-ago period. Moreover, an 84.2% drop in purchased oil/gas costs meant that total operating expenses decreased nearly 25% from the corresponding period of 2025 to $1.4 billion. The number was below our model projection of $1.5 billion.

During the quarter under review, APA generated $554 million of cash from operating activities while it incurred $564 million in upstream capital expenditures. The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company reported an adjusted operating cash flow of $1.2 billion. It also registered a free cash flow of $477 million compared to $126 million a year ago.

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

As of March 31, APA had approximately $293 million in cash and cash equivalents and $4.3 billion in long-term debt, representing a debt-to-capitalization of 40%.

Q2 & 2026 Guidance by APA

For the second quarter, APA Corporation expects U.S. oil production to average 121,000 barrels per day. In Egypt, gross gas production is forecast to rise to 540 MMCF per day, driven by continued momentum in the company’s gas-focused drilling activity. Upstream capital spending for the quarter is anticipated to total around $575 million.

For full-year 2026, APA has increased its U.S. oil production guidance to 122,000 barrels per day, supported by strong operational uptime and ongoing efficiency improvements in the Permian Basin. It also maintained its Egypt gross gas production outlook of 540-550 MMCF per day. In addition, the company left its upstream capital investment and lease operating expense guidance unchanged at approximately $2.1 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.

Some Key E&P Earnings

While we have discussed APA’s first-quarter results in detail, let’s see how some other upstream companies have fared this earnings season.

Shale-focused operator EOG Resources (EOG Quick QuoteEOG - Free Report) posted adjusted earnings of $3.41 per share in the first quarter of 2026, up 18.8% from the year-ago level of $2.87. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings of $3.07 by 11.1%.

Total revenues of $6.92 billion increased 22.1% year over year and beat the consensus mark of $6.3 billion.

Strong quarterly results were supported by higher production, with total crude-oil-equivalent volumes averaging 1,383.8 MBoe/d in the quarter, reflecting strong production execution.

EOG Resources’ cash profile remained a core pillar of the quarter. Net cash provided by operating activities was $2.97 billion, while capital expenditure was $1.64 billion. That spread drove free cash flow of $1.49 billion, underscoring the company’s ability to self-fund its program and still return meaningful capital.

ConocoPhillips (COP Quick QuoteCOP - Free Report) , one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers, delivered adjusted earnings per share of $1.89 in the first quarter of 2026, down 9.6% from the year-ago level but beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.73 by 9.25%. Total revenues of $16.05 billion declined 6.1% year over year, but topped the consensus mark of $14.81 billion by 8.37%.

Operationally, the upstream major generated total production of 2,309 thousand barrels of oil-equivalent per day.

Better-than-expected quarterly earnings can be attributed to the company’s low costs and improved operational efficiency, which helped offset weaker prices and volume dynamics.

ConocoPhillips generated cash provided by operating activities of $4.3 billion in the quarter. Excluding the effect of operating working-capital timing, cash from operations totaled $5.4 billion, supporting a capital program that included $2.9 billion in capital expenditure and investments.

Natural gas producer EQT Corporation (EQT Quick QuoteEQT - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $2.33 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.23. The bottom line increased from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $1.18.

Adjusted operating revenues increased to $3,136 million from $2,153 million in the prior-year quarter. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,127 million.

Strong quarterly results were driven by the increase in total sales volumes and higher realized natural gas equivalent prices.

As of March 31, 2026, EQT had cash and cash equivalents of $326.6 million and net debt of $5.67 billion.