APA Q1 Earnings Shine With Beat on Both Top and Bottom Lines

U.S. energy operator APA Corporation APA reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $1.06 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents and improving from the year-ago adjusted figure of 78 cents. The outperformance primarily reflects higher-than-expected production and commodity prices.Revenues of $2.6 billion were up 37.3% from the year-ago quarter’s sales and came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 18%. Meanwhile, APA continues to reward its shareholders, having paid out $91 million in dividends during the quarter.APA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise APA Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | APA Corporation QuoteProduction & Selling PricesProduction of oil and natural gas averaged 468,978 BOE/d, which comprised 67% liquids. The figure was up 20.5% from the year-ago quarter and surpassed our expectation of 465,009  BOE/d.U.S. output (accounting for 64% of the total) jumped 39.4% year over year to 298,319 BOE/d but production from the company’s international operations decreased 2.5% to 170,659 BOE/d. APA’s oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) production was 315,052 barrels per day (Bbl/d). Natural gas output totaled 923,551 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d).The average realized crude oil price during the first quarter was $73.73 per barrel, down 8.6% from the year-ago realization of $80.65. However, the number came above our projection of $70.39. Meanwhile, the average realized natural gas price rose to $2.81 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) from $2.47 in the year-ago period and beat our estimate of $2.69.(Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)Costs & Financial PositionAPA’s first-quarter lease operating expenses totaled $407 million, up 20.4% from $338 million in the year-ago period. Moreover, a significant increase in the cost of oil/gas equipment and higher depreciation outgo meant that total operating expenses increased 27% from the corresponding period of 2024 to $1.8 billion. Our model had put the figure at $1.7 billion.During the quarter under review, APA generated $1.1 billion of cash from operating activities while it incurred $710 million in upstream capital expenditures. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company reported an adjusted operating cash flow of $1.1 billion. It also registered a free cash flow of $126 million compared to $99 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 $67 million in cash and cash equivalents and $5.2 billion in long-term debt, representing a debt-to-capitalization of 49.1%.GuidanceAPA expects production to average 457,000 BOE/d in Q2 and 463000 BOE/d in 2025 (up 2% year over year). Of this, oil volumes are likely to be 231,000 Bbl/d during the April-June period and 233,000 Bbl/d for the full year. The company pegged its upstream capital expenditure for the year at $2.225-$2.325 billion, down from $2.5 billion-$2.6 billion before.Some Key E&P EarningsWhile 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 Diamondback Energy FANG reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $4.54, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.09 and came ahead of the year-ago bottom line of $4.50. The outperformance reflects strong production and lower costs, which more than offset a fall in oil realization. Diamondback’s production of oil and natural gas averaged 850,656 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d), comprising 56% oil. The figure was up 84.5% from the year-ago quarter.Diamondback logged $942 million in capital expenditure — spending $864 million on drilling and completion, $57 million on infrastructure and environment, and $21 million on capital workovers. The company booked $1.6 billion in adjusted free cash flow in the first quarter. As of March 31, the Permian-focused operator had approximately $1.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $13 billion in long-term debt, representing a debt-to-capitalization of 23.7%.ConocoPhillips COP, one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers, reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $2.09, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.06. The outperformance can be attributed to higher oil equivalent production volumes, partly offset by decreased realized oil prices.As of March 31, ConocoPhillips had $6.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents. The company had a total long-term debt of $23.2 billion and a short-term debt of $608 million as of the same date. ConocoPhillips’ capital expenditure and investments totaled $3.4 billion. Net cash provided by operating activities was $6.1 billion.Natural gas producer EQT Corporation EQT reported earnings from continuing operations of $1.18 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02. The better-than-expected quarterly earnings were driven by higher sales volume and increased average realized prices.EQT’s sales volume increased to 571 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) from the year-ago quarter’s level of 534 Bcfe. The reported figure also beat our estimate of 543 Bcfe. EQT’s natural gas sales volume was 536.3 Bcf, up from 499.3 Bcf in the year-ago quarter. The figure also beat our estimate of 509.8 Bcf.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ConocoPhillips (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report APA Corporation (APA): Free Stock Analysis Report EQT Corporation (EQT): Free Stock Analysis Report Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks