APA Corporation Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates Despite Weak Prices

U.S. energy operator APA Corporation APA reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 91 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 62 cents. The bottom line rose from the year-ago adjusted profit of 79 cents. The outperformance primarily reflects higher-than-expected production and lower costs, partly offset by a drop in commodity realizations.

Revenues of $2 billion were down 20.9% from the year-ago quarter’s sales but beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3%. 

Meanwhile, APA continues to reward its shareholders, having paid out $640 million in dividends and buybacks during the full year of 2025.

APA Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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

Production & Selling Prices

Production of oil and natural gas averaged 459,767 BOE/d, which comprised 70% liquids. The figure was down 5.8% from the year-ago quarter but surpassed our expectation of 445,960 BOE/d.

U.S. output (accounting for 61% of the total) fell 10.3% year over year to 281,051 BOE/d, but production from the company’s international operations increased 2.1% to 178,716 BOE/d. APA’s oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) production was 320,257 barrels per day (Bbl/d). Natural gas output totaled 837,065 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d).

The average realized crude oil price during the fourth quarter was $61.03 per barrel, down 15.7% from the year-ago realization of $72.42. The number also came slightly below our projection of $61.10. The average realized natural gas price fell to $2.10 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) from $2.20 in the year-ago period and missed our estimate of $2.49.

Costs & Financial Position

APA’s fourth-quarter lease operating expenses totaled $354 million, down 25.3% from $474 million in the year-ago period. Moreover, a 71.7% drop in purchased oil/gas costs meant that total operating expenses decreased nearly 26% from the corresponding period of 2024 to $1.5 billion. Our model had put the figure largely in line with the reported result.

During the quarter under review, APA generated $808 million of cash from operating activities while it incurred $434 million in upstream capital expenditures. The company reported an adjusted operating cash flow of $1 billion. It also registered a free cash flow of $425 million compared to $420 million a year ago.

As of Dec. 31, APA had approximately $516 million in cash and cash equivalents and $4.3 billion in long-term debt, representing a debt-to-capitalization of 41.3%.

Guidance

APA expects production to average 440,000 BOE/d in first-quarter 2026 and 436000 BOE/d in 2026 (down more than 6% year over year). Of this, oil volumes are likely to be 225,000 Bbl/d during the January-March period and 217,000 Bbl/d for the full year. The company pegged its upstream capital expenditure for the year at around $2.1 billion.

Some Key E&P Earnings

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

Shale-focused operator EOG Resources EOG reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.27, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.20 but decreased from the year-ago quarter’s $2.74. EOG’s results were driven by higher oil-equivalent production volumes. A decline in the average realized price for crude oil and condensates partially offset the positives.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, EOG Resources had cash and cash equivalents worth $3.4 billion and long-term debt of $7.9 billion. The current portion of the long-term debt totaled $27 million. In the reported quarter, the company generated $978 million in free cash flow. EOG’s capital expenditure amounted to $1.6 billion.

ConocoPhillips COP, one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers, reported adjusted EPS of $1.02, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.08. The bottom line decreased from the prior-year level of $1.98. ConocoPhillips’ weak quarterly earnings can be blamed on lower average realized oil-equivalent prices. The negatives were partially offset by higher oil-equivalent production volumes.

As of Dec. 31, ConocoPhillips had $6.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents. The company had a total long-term debt of $22.4 billion and a short-term debt of $1 billion as of the same date. Capital expenditure and investments totaled $3 billion. Net cash provided by operating activities was $4.3 billion.

Natural gas producer EQT Corporation EQT reported adjusted EPS of 90 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 73 cents and improved from the year-ago profit of 69 cents. The strong quarterly earnings were driven by growth in total sales volumes and higher realized natural gas equivalent prices. In the December quarter, EQT sold 572 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas, higher than 566 Bcf in the prior-year quarter. The figure also beat our estimate of 561 Bcf.

EQT’s adjusted operating cash flow totaled $1.6 billion in the reported quarter, up from $1.2 billion a year ago. The free cash flow totaled $857 million, marking an increase from $588 million in the corresponding period of 2024.

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

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