Strong Balance Sheet to Support ConocoPhillips' Long-Term Stability

ConocoPhillips COP is a U.S.-based upstream energy firm having a diversified portfolio of low-cost assets spread across 14 countries globally. The company, being primarily involved in the upstream sector, is highly vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices. Oil and gas prices are highly volatile and influenced by several factors, including supply and demand dynamics, global economic growth and geopolitical developments.

However, COP’s balance sheet strength enables it to weather unfavorable pricing environments. ConocoPhillips boasts a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 26.4%, significantly lower than the sub-industry average of 49.1%. By the end of the second quarter, ConocoPhillips had $5.7 billion in cash and short-term investments, which demonstrates its strong liquidity position. Furthermore, the company continues to generate a resilient free cash flow that enables it to strengthen its balance sheet further. ConocoPhillips’ low-cost production assets, portfolio optimization efforts, cost reductions and margin enhancements are expected to add $7 billion of free cash flow by 2029.

Thus, even though ConocoPhillips’ business model is exposed to commodity price volatility, its strong balance sheet and resilient cash flows should enable it to navigate unfavorable business environments by reducing financial stress and improving overall financial resilience.

EOG & CVX Also Have Lower Debt Exposure

Like COP, EOG Resources EOG and Chevron Corporation CVX also have lower debt exposure.

EOG Resources is a leading independent exploration and production company with operations focused on the prolific acres in the United States as well as several resource-rich international basins. The company has a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 12.66%, which is significantly lower than that of the composite stocks belonging to the industry.

Chevron Corporation is an integrated energy giant with operations ranging from oil production to refining and marketing. The company operates across several countries. CVX’s debt-to-capitalization ratio of 16.67% demonstrates lower dependence on debt capital.

COP's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of COP have plunged 12.1% over the past year compared with the 13.6% decline of the industry.

From a valuation standpoint, COP trades at a trailing 12-month enterprise value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) of 5.38X. This is below the broader industry average of 11.06X.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for COP’s 2025 earnings has been revised upward over the past seven days.

COP, EOG and CVX each currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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