Chord Q2 Earnings Miss, Revenues Beat on Higher Oil Output & Price

The strong quarterly revenues were driven by higher oil output, and stronger oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) realizations.

Total production reached 286.4 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d).

CHRD's Oil Output Moves Higher

CHRD's oil production was 165.4 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), up 5.6% from 156.7 MBbl/d in the year-ago quarter. Oil represented 57.8% of total production, compared with 55.6% a year earlier.

Natural gas liquids production fell 2.0% to 53 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d) from 54.1 MBbl/d recorded in the prior-year quarter. Natural gas production declined 4.2% to 408 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) from 425.9 MMcf/d in the second quarter of 2025. The company had 66 gross and 47 net operated wells turned in line during the quarter.

Chord Benefits From Stronger Realizations

Chord's average oil sales price, excluding realized derivatives, increased 52.5% to $93.99 per barrel from $61.62 per barrel a year earlier. The average NGL sales price, excluding realized derivatives, increased 59.5% to $9.25 per barrel from $5.80 per barrel in the year-ago quarter.

Crude oil revenues rose to $1.42 billion, while NGL revenues increased to $44.6 million and natural gas revenues fell to $34.7 million.

CHRD's Cost Picture Shows Mixed Trends

Lease operating expense (LOE) increased to $267.8 million from $257.0 million a year ago, while LOE per barrel of oil equivalent rose to $10.28 from $10.02. Production taxes rose to $125.9 million from $69.0 million.

Gathering, processing and transportation expense declined to $62.8 million from $74.1 million. Depreciation, depletion and amortization increased to $409.2 million from $377.0 million. Total select operating expenses were $865.7 million, up from $777.1 million.

CHRD's Cash Flow Supports Higher Capital Returns

Net cash provided by operating activities reached $1.12 billion, up from $419.8 million a year ago. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose to $923.5 million from $547.2 million, while adjusted free cash flow increased to $413.4 million from $140.8 million.

CHRD returned 54% of adjusted free cash flow to shareholders in the quarter. It repurchased 1,104,346 shares for $147.4 million and declared a base dividend of $1.30 per share.

Chord’s Balance Sheet

As of June 30, 2026, Chord had cash and cash equivalents of $611.6 million, while total debt was $1.50 billion and liquidity was $2.58 billion.

CHRD Keeps 2026 Capital Plan Steady

Chord maintained its full-year 2026 oil-volume midpoint at 161 MBbl/d, with guidance to be in the range of 160.2-161.8 MBbl/d. Total production is projected to be in the range of 278.2-281.8 MBoe/d, while capital expenditures are expected to be between $1.36 billion and $1.44 billion.

For the third quarter, oil volumes are expected to be in the range of 161.5-164.5 Mbo/d and capital spending between $360 million and $390 million. Chord raised the full-year LOE midpoint to $10.30 per barrel of oil equivalent (Boe), reflecting additional production-enhancement initiatives, higher workover costs and higher non-operated LOE. The company expects about $3.0 billion of adjusted EBITDA and $1.3 billion of adjusted free cash flow for 2026, assuming $75 WTI and $3 Henry Hub in the second half.

CHRD’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Chord currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks from the energy sector are PBF Energy Inc. PBF, Valero Energy Corporation VLO and Cactus, Inc. WHD. PBF sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while VLO and WHD carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each, at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.

PBF reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.22 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.05 per share.

As of June 30, 2026, PBF had total debt of $1.75 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of $894.1 million.

Valero reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $12.54 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.87 per share.

As of June 30, 2026, VLO had total debt of $9.10 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of $7.87 billion.

Cactus reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 93 cents per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents per share.

As of June 30, 2026, WHD had cash and cash equivalents of $365 million.

Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"

Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.

This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.

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

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

Zacks Investment Research