CHRD

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD). Shares have added about 11.7% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Chord Energy Corporation due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Chord reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.44 per share, up 259.8% from $1.79 a year ago. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.68 by 3.6%. Total quarterly revenues rose 57.2% to $1.5 billion from $950.3 million. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.4 billion by 4.2%. 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 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'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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Since the earnings release, investors have witnessed a upward trend in estimates revision. The consensus estimate has shifted 18.26% due to these changes. Currently, Chord Energy Corporation has a strong Growth Score of A, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with a C. However, the stock has a score of A on the value side, putting it in the top quintile for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. Notably, Chord Energy Corporation has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Chord Energy Corporation is part of the Zacks Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry. Over the past month, EOG Resources (EOG), a stock from the same industry, has gained 7.2%. The company reported its results for the quarter ended June 2026 more than a month ago. EOG Resources reported revenues of $8.62 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +57.4%. EPS of $5.07 for the same period compares with $2.32 a year ago. EOG Resources is expected to post earnings of $4.31 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +59%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed +6.4%. The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for EOG Resources. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of A. 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 Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD) : Free Stock Analysis Report EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q2. Today, we are looking at u.s. shale e&p stocks, starting with Chord Energy (NASDAQ:CHRD). US shale oil producers extract crude from tight rock formations using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) techniques, primarily in basins like the Permian, Bakken, and Eagle Ford. Tailwinds include short-cycle investment flexibility allowing rapid production adjustments, technological improvements enhancing well productivity, and proximity to refining and export infrastructure. Capital discipline has improved financial returns. Headwinds include commodity price sensitivity affecting drilling economics, accelerating well decline rates requiring continuous capital investment, and increasing regulatory and ESG scrutiny. Water usage, induced seismicity concerns, and evolving environmental regulations present ongoing operational challenges. The 11 u.s. shale e&p stocks we track reported an exceptional Q2. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 10.4%. Luckily, u.s. shale e&p stocks have performed well with share prices up 11.1% on average since the latest earnings results. Holding the largest acreage position in the Williston Basin, Chord Energy (NASDAQ:CHRD) drills for and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in North Dakota's Williston Basin. Chord Energy reported revenues of $2.17 billion, up 84% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 31.9%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company. Chord Energy pulled off the biggest analyst estimate beat in the group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is up 7.9% since reporting and currently trades at $140.20. Read why we think that Chord Energy is one of the best u.s. shale e&p stocks, our full report is free. Operating in the oil-rich northeastern corner of the Midland Basin where Howard and Borden counties meet, HighPeak Energy (NASDAQ:HPK) explores for, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas. HighPeak Energy reported revenues of $272.4 million, up 25.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 8.7%. The business had an incredible quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 2.5% since reporting. It currently trades at $7.73. Is now the time to buy HighPeak Energy? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free. One of America's largest private landowners with roughly 868,000 acres in the Permian Basin, Texas Pacific Land (NYSE:TPL) owns land in West Texas and earns revenue from oil and gas royalties, water services, and land leases. Texas Pacific Land reported revenues of $246.1 million, up 31.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. It was a mixed quarter as it posted a decent beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates. Texas Pacific Land delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates among its peers. As expected, the stock is down 2.4% since the results and currently trades at $372.77. Read our full analysis of Texas Pacific Land’s results here. Operating primarily in the Delaware Basin where multiple oil-bearing layers lie stacked thousands of feet deep, Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) explores for, drills, and produces oil and natural gas from underground rock formations in New Mexico and Texas. Matador Resources reported revenues of $1.19 billion, up 32.5% year on year. This result surpassed analysts’ expectations by 13.7%. Overall, it was an incredible quarter as it also produced a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates. The stock is up 18% since reporting and currently trades at $55.50. Read our full, actionable report on Matador Resources here, it’s free. Sporting one of Wall Street's most memorable ticker symbols, Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) drills for and produces oil and natural gas from underground rock formations in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico. Diamondback Energy reported revenues of $5.56 billion, up 51.2% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 13.5%. It was an exceptional quarter as it also put up an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. The stock is flat since reporting and currently trades at $199.02. Read our full, actionable report on Diamondback Energy here, it’s free. Over the past year, investors have been forced to repeatedly answer the same question: what is the market’s biggest risk? The answer has changed several times, and each shift has reshaped market leadership. Late in 2025 and early 2026, artificial intelligence became the market’s primary uncertainty. Investors questioned whether AI would erode software pricing power and weaken competitive moats as AI made it easier to replicate once-differentiated products. By the spring, technology took a back seat to geopolitics. The U.S. conflict with Iran briefly became the market’s dominant narrative, raising concerns about oil prices, inflation, and global growth. But as energy markets remained orderly and fears of a prolonged supply disruption faded, investors quickly turned their focus back to fundamentals. Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 5 Growth Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

Chord Energy’s second quarter was marked by operational improvements and focused production enhancements, leading to results that were viewed positively by investors. Management attributed the strong quarterly performance to higher oil production, efficiency gains from longer lateral drilling, and targeted workover programs. CEO Daniel Brown highlighted that “execution remains solid across the organization,” emphasizing the impact of optimization efforts such as accelerated workovers and broader chemical treatment testing. Management also cited the adoption of artificial intelligence in optimizing artificial lift as contributing to higher production and improved cost control. Is now the time to buy CHRD? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $2.17 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.65 billion (84% year-on-year growth, 31.9% beat) Adjusted EPS: $6.44 vs analyst expectations of $6.52 (1.2% miss) Operating Margin: 27.7%, up from -34.2% in the same quarter last year Oil production per day: up 5.6% year on year Market Capitalization: $7.62 billion While we enjoy listening to the management’s commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls is the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Bertrand Donnes (William Blair) asked about the sustainability of the increased free cash flow payout. CEO Daniel Brown confirmed the plan to return at least 75% of free cash flow to shareholders for the remainder of the year, subject to leverage remaining below target. Bertrand Donnes (William Blair) inquired about Bakken crude oil differentials versus WTI. Chief Strategy Officer Michael Lou explained that current tight differentials reflect strong basin conditions but cautioned they may not persist throughout the year. John Abbott (Wolfe Research) sought details on the chemical workover program’s progress and timing for incorporating results into guidance. CEO Daniel Brown and COO Darrin Henke said early results are encouraging, but more data is needed before adjusting production forecasts. John Abbott (Wolfe Research) followed up on trimulfrac adoption potential. COO Darrin Henke estimated that up to 50% of next year’s program could use trimulfrac, pending further evaluation and operational feasibility. Paul Diamond (Citi) asked about the timing of capital spending reductions as a result of dropping a frac crew. CEO Daniel Brown confirmed the reduction began in July, which will lower Q3 capital expenditures. Moving forward, the StockStory team will be monitoring (1) continued progress in scaling chemical and workover programs and their impact on production growth, (2) the adoption rate and operational results of trimulfrac and other efficiency technologies, and (3) Chord’s ability to maintain capital discipline and free cash flow returns as oil market conditions evolve. Execution on these operational initiatives and maintaining a strong balance sheet will be critical signposts. Chord Energy currently trades at $139.06, up from $129.95 just before the earnings. Is the company at an inflection point that warrants a buy or sell? Find out in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members). ONE MORE THING: Top 6 Stocks for This Week. This market is separating quality stocks from expensive ones fast. AI is taking down whole sectors with no warning. In a rotation this fast, you need more than a list of good companies. Our AI system flagged Palantir before it ran 1,662% between October 2022 and February 2026. AppLovin before it ran 753% between February 2024 and February 2026. Nvidia before it ran 1,178% between January 2023 and February 2026. Each week it produces 6 new names that pass the same tests. Get Our Top 6 Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,552% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 at 11 a.m. ET Vice President of Finance - Bob Bakanauskas Chief Executive Officer - Daniel Brown Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Commercial Officer - Michael Lou Chief Operating Officer - Darrin Henke Chief Financial Officer - Richard Robuck Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Chord Energy Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Thursday, August 6, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Bob Bakanauskas, Vice President of Finance. Please go ahead. Bob Bakanauskas: Thanks, Julie, and good morning, everyone. This is Bob Bakanauskas, and today, we are reporting second quarter 2026 financial and operational results. We are delighted to have you on the call. I'm joined today by Danny Brown, our CEO; Michael Lou, our Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Commercial Officer; Darrin Henke, our COO; Richard Robuck, our CFO; as well as other members of the team. Please be advised that our remarks, including the answers to your questions, include statements that we believe to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from those currently disclosed in our earnings releases and on our conference calls. Those risks include, among others, matters that we have described in our earnings releases as well as in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. During this conference call, we will make reference to non-GAAP measures, and reconciliations to the applicable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings releases and on our website. We may also reference our current investor presentation, which you can find on our website. And with that, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Danny Brown. Daniel Brown: Thanks, Bob. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our call. Last night, we released our second quarter results, along with an updated investor presentation. In those documents, you'll see Chord delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance, which resulted in free cash flow above expectations. Execution remains solid across the organization. Oil production came in at the high end of guidance, while adjusted capital spending finished modestly below the midpoint of guidance. Additionally, we continued making progress on a number of strategic initiatives that we believe will further improve the quality of our business and enhance long-term free cash flow generation. Adjusted free cash flow for the second quarter was $414 million, exceeding expectations, and we returned 54% of this or $220 million to shareholders through a combination of our base dividend and share repurchases. With Chord's balance sheet growing to $612 million and normalized leverage declining below [ 1.5 ] turn at quarter end, targeted return of capital is expected to increase to at least 75% of adjusted free cash flow beginning in the third quarter. Stepping back and looking at the macro for a moment, we've obviously seen unusually high volatility this year and the outlook for commodity prices, particularly oil, remains uncertain. Against this backdrop, Chord will remain focused on disciplined capital allocation and driving continuous improvement through the business. And while we expect to see further volatility in the macro, we have diligently built a company that can consistently generate attractive returns across a wide range of price environments. Chord has operated a maintenance plus program for over 5 years. This approach has created a large, resilient production base with low declines supported by an efficient drilling and completions program that delivers volumes and an attractive supply cost. This approach has supported sustainable free cash flow generation and robust shareholder returns. We continue to believe this is the right approach today even as we leaned into the plus last quarter by raising our full year guide by 2,000 barrels of oil per day through our investment in an array of low-cost, short-cycle base production opportunities. Diving deeper into Chord's continuous improvement initiatives, we continue to make progress across a wide variety of areas, including driving longer laterals, improving cycle times, optimizing the production base, implementing AI and optimizing marketing contracts. As I mentioned in May, Chord is pursuing various projects to optimize its large PDP base. These activities include accelerating workovers, reducing cycle times for down wells, various chemical jobs, debottlenecking surface constraints, optimizing artificial lift through AI and a host of other projects. Success year-to-date has driven Chord's full year volume above original expectations, as I just noted. Since May, the team has broadened the scope of its chemical workover program to test multiple new opportunities. That is we are testing additional chemical treatments over a larger population of wells. We are currently assuming only limited volume upside from these initiatives as we evaluate their effectiveness, economic returns and implications for the program going forward. While these initiatives have created some near-term upward pressure on LOE, we believe expanding the program is the right step to maximize the long-term potential of the business. On the drilling and completion side, Chord continues to operate well and set new records. Transitioning the portfolio to longer laterals has been highly impactful for Chord, driving a structurally lower cost of supply and higher returns on invested capital. Since the May update, Chord has turned in line 4 additional 4-mile pads. And as of today, the company has executed 26 4-mile wells in total. Importantly, Chord continues to reach total depth on cleanouts and execution as well as early performance of the 4-mile program is in line with expectations. Chord remains on track to scale its 4-mile program through the second half of 2026 and into 2027. Looking at cycle times, year-to-date, we've seen some acceleration on the frac side, which has essentially derisked the 2026 development program by pushing volumes to the front end of the year. The team also successfully executed the basin's first trimulfrac, which we believe could further drive efficiencies in select areas by reducing completion costs while maintaining high execution quality. Additionally, Chord is benefiting from reduced facilities-related capital through equipment reuse and scalable facility design. So you can see Chord continues to make progress driving efficiencies across the business. This has resulted in higher levels of sustainable free cash flow, which in combination with our share repurchase program has driven strong growth in free cash flow per share. Slide 7 in our investor presentation highlights that free cash flow per share has grown about 30% since 2024 on normalized commodity pricing. And when using actual 2026 pricing, the growth is obviously substantially higher. That's impressive performance, but maybe even more impressive when considering we preserve the balance sheet along the way. Turning to updated guidance. We've made a few fairly minor changes. We continue to expect oil volumes to average 161,000 barrels of oil per day over the course of 2026, which is 2,000 barrels of oil per day higher than our initial outlook, largely due to investing in [indiscernible] based production. On the D&C side, due to faster cycle times, we accelerated some activity to earlier in the year, which increased first half volumes and reduced second half relative to our initial outlook. On the capital side, our outlook is essentially unchanged. Looking at the quarterly cadence, we are expecting a meaningful reduction in spending during the third quarter as we drop our second frac crew, followed by another decline in the fourth quarter. We've also updated our differential and realization outlook to reflect current market conditions. Unique market circumstances drove Bakken crude to trade at premiums to WTI during the second quarter. Currently, we're expecting that premium to fade over the course of the year. On the natural gas and NGL side, we also updated differential guidance to reflect current market conditions. Full year LOE expense was raised to $10.30 per BOE, reflecting the additional production enhancement initiatives discussed earlier. Additionally, we have also seen some higher workover costs relative to initial expectations as well as a bit higher nonoperated LOE. Expanding on these additional production enhancement opportunities, I'd like to emphasize that Chord is very focused in maximizing economic returns. If investing a small amount of incremental LOE in short-cycle opportunities today has a high probability of generating strong risk-adjusted cash flow in the future, that's exactly the type of investment we want to make. Finally, turning to our updated hedge position. You can see Chord has added some incremental hedged volumes over the next couple of years. Currently, we have approximately 38% of our second half 2026 oil volumes hedged and about 18% of 2027. So in closing, Chord remains committed to delivering affordable and reliable energy in a sustainable and responsible manner. We remain focused on the factors we can control and driving improvements across the business. And with that, Julie, we'd be happy to open the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Bert Donnes from William Blair. Bertrand Donnes: First question would just be on capital allocation. I think you pointed out that you're going to step up that free cash flow payout in the remainder of the year. I just want to make sure I understood that wording. It specifically said 3Q. Should we expect that for 3Q and 4Q going forward? Or just what is the strategy going forward on those levels? Daniel Brown: Bert, thanks for the question. Yes, I'd say I would expect to see that in 3Q and 4Q as we move forward. As we talk about this, we've always -- we've been pretty transparent about how we think about return of capital to shareholders. And as we drop below this [ 0.5 ] turn levered on our normalized pricing basis, we've committed we'll return at least 75% back to shareholders. And so we've hit that mark. We expect to do that as we move forward. Now of course, if something happened and we saw our leverage go up, I don't anticipate that, but we'll -- we evaluate it then, but I would fully anticipate we'll be above 75% at a floor of 75% for the balance of the year. Bertrand Donnes: That makes sense. So remaining flexible, but expecting over that 75%. And then maybe on the oil differentials that you mentioned in your opening remarks, -- you're starting to guide almost in parity with WTI, that's better than we've seen in prior periods. But oil is a little bit higher than a year ago. So I was just trying to understand, is that where you see it long term? Or is there upside here? And then maybe any thoughts on third-party operator activity or infrastructure capacity? Just where are we in that supply and demand balance? Michael Lou: Yes, Bert, Michael Lou here. Good question. I think the Bakken overall has traded kind of anywhere from a $2 negative to [ TI ] to $2 positive. We certainly saw some significant positives in the second quarter. A lot of that has to do with where we are in the basin, there's a lot of takeaway and production has been generally pretty flat. And so you're in a really good position from broad differentials in the basin. With the huge run-up in oil price in the second quarter because of the war, we saw a huge backwardation in the curve. So you saw some of that CMA roll kind of roll through to better differentials. To the extent that you see -- you continue to see higher prices in the front and a bit of a backwardated curve, I think you're going to see really tight differentials. We're not thinking that we're going to get that all through the second half. And so what you're seeing us guide to is something just below WTI, still very strong differentials in the basin. But I would say that if you saw periods where you saw the price spike in the front, you should expect differentials to continue to get better for us overall. Operator: Your next question comes from John Abbott from Wolfe Research. John Abbott: The first question is really on workovers and the chemicals that you're testing. So to start off, could you just sort of describe what your typical workover program sort of looks like? What sort of uplift that you sort of see typically from the pathways you've done your workovers? And then could you talk about the early test that you've seen on the chemicals and your -- that made you sort of expand into these other testing this wider test that you're doing? And when would you have sufficient data to potentially incorporate more of that into your oil outlook? Daniel Brown: Great, John, this is Danny. So maybe a few comments here. So I would say from a workover perspective, our workovers really cover a whole wide variety of different activities. This could be things from ESPs going down to holes in tubing to rod repairs that need to be done. And it could also involve these -- some of these chemical treatments that we're looking at doing. And so I think it really just depends on sort of the opportunity we see on an individual well. Oftentimes, we'll have wells go down for various reasons. And so we have a whole fleet of workover rigs that work to bring those wells back online. And sometimes, we just think the wells may be producing less than optimal, and we have an opportunity maybe to improve their production. It's not that they're offline. We just think maybe they're suboptimized from a production delivery perspective. And so it really holds a whole different array of opportunities. With respect to the chemical programs, we've tried some chemical programs through the first part of the year. I'd say it's appropriate to say that we've been encouraged with what we've seen, and we're excited about some of the opportunities, and we've got incremental testing we want to do, and we want to expand that testing as we move out and move further. And so early results have been encouraging. We don't know -- ultimately, we need to see the production hang in for a little longer before we can start really hanging sort of full expectations to it and start to include that as our full volume expectations moving forward. But I'd say early results are encouraging, which is why you're seeing us expand this program -- why you're seeing us expand this program as we move forward. And as we get more information, it's going to be a little -- I think, a little bit opportunity specific -- there may be some jobs that it's quite evident that inconsistent that we see production increases and or failures where it doesn't work, and we'll be able to sort of understand what that looks like pretty quickly. Others, it may take us a little more time if we see more variability in the results. So we'll pass that along and incorporate it into our guidance as we're able to get that information and have confidence about it and move forward. And so I look a lot. I want Darrin to also have an opportunity to give any color commentary from his perspective. Darrin Henke: Yes. Probably the only thing I'd add to what Danny said was some of the jobs we're doing, we're lowering the pumps, and we're seeing increased productivity there. As we've shown on Slide 6, you can see how we've arrested the decline on a pretty good chunk of our wells through these different opportunities. So definitely encouraged with what we've seen and stay tuned. John Abbott: Appreciate it. And then your commentary about trimul, you did your first trimulfrac up there. You've talked about doing that in select about opportunities in select areas. I guess, areas -- I mean, I guess, how does that sort of relate as you sort of think about overall inventory? And given this sort of -- given this, how do you sort of think of trimulfracs sort of feeding into next year? What is the opportunity for you there in terms of you sort of think about your overall inventory going forward? Darrin Henke: Yes, John, this is Darrin again. So we're really starting to investigate optionality around trimulfracs for next year. And it could be 25% to maybe as much as 50% of our program next year, probably 20% to 50%, somewhere in that range. We're -- it takes a lot of things to make all that work out. We're also looking at remote fracking, which would allow us to trimulfracs not only on one pad, but multiple pads perhaps at the same time. So the team was definitely encouraged with what we saw with the first trimulfracs in the basin. Efficiencies were was amazing, how nice -- how great a job the team did in standing that up and really improving the efficiency of that frac crew. And so we're excited about it. We're going to look for additional opportunities. And -- but I can't really speak to the inventory, how much of our inventory looking out over the next 10 years that we can do with trimulfrac. But next year, it could be, like say, 20% to 50%, perhaps would be the range. Operator: Your next question comes from John Annis from Texas Capital. John Annis: For my first one, the economics on Slide 13 assume 80% contribution from the fourth mile. With 26 [ TIL'd ] and over 50 drilled, how many have 6-plus months of production? And is the tow contribution tracking that 80%? And then separately, is the gap between the drilled and [ TIL'd ] a function of more lumpy completions with simul or trimulfrac? Or is that a normalized spread? Daniel Brown: So I'd say let's start with maybe the second part first. It's always going to be a little bit of a lag we've got in how we drill these wells and then getting the completion crews in, making sure all the midstream is in place and the facilities are built and then bringing them online. And so you'll see a little bit of lumpiness as we do depending upon the size of the pads and how the overall development works, but always expect to see a little bit of a lag there. With respect to how many have 6 months of production or more, I don't know that number off the top of my head. Clearly, we're happy about what we've seen so far. With respect to sort of when we really understand what that fourth mile contribution looks like, I think we're still a little early from that. As we model these things out through simulation, the production profiles look reasonably similar during the early period of the well and then they diverge a little bit as you get forward in time. And so we really need to see as they go through this initial flow period and they start to get into more stabilized flow in the future, you can start to tell the difference on -- really see the difference on how that 4th mile is contributing. So we're still a little too early there to make a call. We like what we're seeing. Everything we're seeing is in line with expectations, and so we're excited about the program. But I think we're still just a little bit too early to call to validate like we did with 3 miles previously that we're getting full contribution from that last mile. So I'm encouraged with what we saw in the 3-mile program. We're actively monitoring these wells as we move forward. And as we have confidence on whether or not we're seeing incremental contribution from that 4th mile, we'll certainly bake it into our plans and pass that along, but I still think it's just a little too early right now. John Annis: Thanks I appreciate that. Darrin Henke: I think the one thing I'd add to that, Danny, is we pump tracers on all of our 4th mile wells, and we're seeing tracers from those toast stages back at the surface. So we know those stages are contributing. And so all indications are certainly positive at this point. John Annis: For my follow-up, as you broaden the chemical program across hundreds of wells, how are you identifying the best candidates? And are you seeing meaningful differences in response by area or well vintage? Daniel Brown: I think the -- again, we're early in the testing phases of this chemical program and the team -- and it's very -- it's not only one type of thing that we're trying. We're trying several different things. And so the team has a selection criteria where they look to see what wells they think may be the best candidates for these types of jobs, and that's going to vary a little bit by the specific circumstances of that well. And so yes, there's a whole -- we're trying several different types of chemical treatments. We do have a selection process for trying to determine which wells are the best candidates, and we're marching through those. We'll execute them, monitor performance, learn from it and then move forward. But we are -- again, we're encouraged with early results, but we need a little more -- enough so that we want to expand this program. And as we have more information and more data, we'll certainly be passing that along and incorporating into our future expectations. Operator: Your next question comes from Paul Diamond from Citi. Paul Diamond: I want to talk a bit about Slide 6, you guys list a pretty robust opportunity set with a whole block of initiatives. Can you put some, I guess, clarification around that, like which ones are the kind of low-hanging fruit versus which ones we would expect to see more over time? Is there any that kind of stand out one way or the other? Daniel Brown: So I'd say that, again, as we look at these chemical jobs and really more broadly, our overall base production initiatives, there is a whole wide array of opportunities. Certainly, one of the largest costs and impacts to production we see is if we can improve the run time and efficiency of our ESPs. And so we've got a whole team and in fact, we've organized around the entire organization around really making sure we've got a team dedicated to improving our ESP run time and our ESP performance. And I think we're seeing some strong returns on that program. So we haven't highlighted that here, but I just do want to give the team a shout out for their efforts on that. And that certainly is something that we see a lot of opportunity from a potential cost structure and run time standpoint. From a chemical perspective, I would say it's -- again, we've got some -- we are encouraged with what we're seeing through several of these different types of jobs. We've seen some pretty significant improvement in well productivity on a few of them we've done. We need to make sure that we understand the mechanism of why that worked and to make sure that it's replicable and that we can do good candidate selection here. So again, as we -- we're excited about several of these things. And as we get some more -- again, as we get confidence in the repeatability of the results, and we'll know that as we are able to expand this program and see the production response of then we'll be passing that on. Darrin, anything to add? Darrin Henke: Yes. No, I think you covered it well, Dan. I don't have any additional. Paul Diamond: Got it. And just for a quick follow-up. I know you guys are dropping the second frac crew on 2H. Do you have any update on the timing of that? Should we expect that like mid-Q3, late Q3? Just how to think about capital timing in 2H? Daniel Brown: Yes. So we dropped that in July. And so we've already dropped that frac crew, which is why we're confident about seeing 3Q capital come down. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from Geoff Jay from Daniel Energy Partners. Geoff Jay: I just was hoping to get a little more color maybe on some of the production optimization efforts. Is there an element of that, that's more widely deployed that's a bigger contributor than the others? I would assume the chemicals is probably a low contributor, maybe the run time is a bigger one. I guess what I guess I'm getting at is I think a lot about the AI deployment. I mean, how broadly is that deployed? Is there a lot more room there? Or are you doing a lot with the AI optimization of artificial lift? Daniel Brown: That's a great question, Geoff. And I'd say that we've really implemented that pretty widely across the field at this point for our wells that are on rod pump. And really, at the end of the day, almost every well that we've got within the field will end up on rod pump. We've got a few that may be on longer-term gas lift. But essentially, we've got nearly every well ends up on rod pump, and we've been able to use the ability of the computer through artificial intelligence to really optimize that entire rod pump program to ensure that not only are we sort of loading that pump properly, but what that results in is to ensure that the wear on the pump is reduced and that the production is improved. And so we've done that pretty broadly across the field. I suspect that there's room for optimization on that. But with respect to implementation, it's pretty broadly implemented. The nice thing about that is we've seen the success there. And so now I think you may see us looking at what other opportunities do we have to ensure that the computer can optimize aspects of our operation that instead of being optimized on a daily or a weekly or sort of maybe even less infrequent basis where they could be optimized almost instantaneously to make sure that we're maximizing production. So I think that was a good win for us and is very broadly adopted across the field as you -- sort of as you pointed out. Now from a chemical standpoint, again, it's going to depend on the specific issues we see with that well and the opportunity of the chemical that we're injecting. But -- so those may be a little bit more specific and bespoke depending upon what's going on with the well, but there are some initiatives like this rod pump that we've done across the entire sort of rod pump fleet. Additionally, I mentioned earlier, we've got a lot of -- we've got a whole fleet of workover rigs that help us continue to make sure that our base production is running effectively and efficiently. And we're now using the computer to help us schedule all of those jobs. And so as you can imagine, in the past, you would have a human look through and determine as a well goes down, and we have wells going down every day, we've got over 5,000 wells in the basin. We would have to optimize where does that workover rig go next. And so you're making all of those judgment calls about proximity to the next well, the amount of production that was off, the cost of the job, the availability of parts to do the job because you never wanted those things to have any idle time. Well, the computer can do all of that scheduling math very, very effectively and very quickly. And so we're looking for that sort of scheduling optimization as well, which is not something we may classically talk about as part of our base production enhancement initiatives, but it's a big -- it has potentially a big effect to make sure that we're very optimized on scheduling all those workover rigs out within the field. So long story short, we've got -- I think we've got a lot of different initiatives. Some of them will have more broad impact, as you mentioned, some may be a little more focused. but we think all of them have the opportunity to increase value from our base production, and we're excited about all of them. Operator: And there are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back over to Danny Brown, CEO, for closing remarks. Daniel Brown: Thanks, Julie. Well, before we wrap up, I'd like to thank all of our employees for another outstanding quarter. Their commitment to safety, operational excellence and continuous improvement is what allows Chord to consistently deliver strong results while strengthening the business for the long term. As we step back and look at where Chord stands today, I think we're in an excellent position. We have a high-quality oil-weighted asset base with a long runway of attractive inventory, robust, sustainable free cash flow and one of the strongest balance sheets in the sector. Those advantages give us confidence that we can continue creating value across a wide range of commodity price environments. I'd also be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to provide a thank you to a member of our team who will be moving on. Shannon Kinney, our General Counsel, will be returning to ConocoPhillips, where she spent many years to fill their open General Counsel position. We're sad to see her go, are thankful for her contributions and wish her all the best. And with that, I'd like to thank everyone for your continued interest in Chord Energy. We appreciate you joining us this morning, and we look forward to speaking with many of you over the coming weeks. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Thank you. Before you buy stock in Chord Energy, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Chord Energy wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $403,337!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,334,946!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 958% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 214% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 12, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Chord Energy (CHRD) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Chord Energy Corporation CHRD reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.44 per share, up 259.8% from $1.79 a year ago. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.68 by 3.6%. Total quarterly revenues rose 57.2% to $1.5 billion from $950.3 million. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.4 billion by 4.2%. 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). Chord Energy Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Chord Energy Corporation Quote 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'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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) : Free Stock Analysis Report PBF Energy Inc. (PBF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cactus, Inc. (WHD) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Interested in Chord Energy Corporation? Here are five stocks we like better. Chord Energy generated $414 million in adjusted free cash flow in Q2 2026 and returned $220 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. The company plans to return at least 75% of adjusted free cash flow beginning in Q3, subject to leverage. Chord maintained its 2026 oil-production outlook at 161,000 barrels per day, while reducing capital spending in the second half after dropping a frac crew. However, it raised its full-year lease operating expense forecast to $10.30 per barrel of oil equivalent. The company is advancing operational efficiency initiatives, including chemical treatments, artificial intelligence-powered pump optimization, four-mile laterals and trimulfrac technology. Chord has hedged approximately 38% of second-half 2026 oil volumes and 18% of 2027 volumes. Oil Could Dip, But These 3 Energy Stocks Still Look Built to Win Chord Energy (NASDAQ:CHRD) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted free cash flow of $414 million, with oil production at the high end of its guidance range and adjusted capital spending modestly below the midpoint of guidance, President and CEO Danny Brown said during the company’s earnings call. The company returned $220 million to shareholders during the quarter through its base dividend and share repurchases, representing 54% of adjusted free cash flow. Brown said Chord’s balance sheet had grown to $612 million and normalized leverage had declined below one-half turn at quarter-end. → 3 Drone Stocks That Should Soar After the Summer Slump As a result, Chord expects to return at least 75% of adjusted free cash flow to shareholders beginning in the third quarter. Brown said the company expects that payout level to continue through the third and fourth quarters, subject to changes in leverage. Chord maintained its full-year 2026 oil-production outlook of 161,000 barrels per day, which is 2,000 barrels per day above its original outlook. Brown attributed the increase largely to investments in low-cost, short-cycle opportunities within the company’s base production. → Meta’s Earnings Drop Shows Wall Street Wants More Than Ad Growth The company’s overall capital outlook was “essentially unchanged,” though spending is expected to decline materially in the third quarter after Chord dropped its second frac crew in July. Brown said spending is expected to decrease again in the fourth quarter. Chord raised its full-year lease operating expense outlook to $10.30 per barrel of oil equivalent. The increase reflects expanded production-enhancement initiatives, higher workover costs than initially expected and somewhat higher non-operated lease operating expense. → Jersey Mike's Serves Fresh Gains After IPO Stumble Brown said the company is willing to incur incremental operating costs where it sees opportunities to generate strong risk-adjusted future cash flow. Those efforts include workovers, efforts to reduce downtime, chemical treatments, surface de-bottlenecking and artificial-lift optimization. Chord has expanded testing of chemical treatments across a larger population of wells after seeing encouraging initial results, according to Brown. The company is testing multiple treatment types and is currently assuming only limited volume upside from the initiative while it evaluates effectiveness, economics and the potential for broader deployment. Brown said Chord needs more production history before incorporating a larger contribution from the chemical program into its outlook. The company is using selection criteria to identify wells that may be the best candidates for particular treatments, while monitoring results to determine whether performance can be replicated. Chief Operating Officer Darrin Henke said some of the work includes lowering pumps and has resulted in improved productivity. He added that the company has arrested production declines across a meaningful portion of its wells through several optimization initiatives. Brown also highlighted Chord’s use of artificial intelligence to optimize rod-pump operations across much of its field. The technology is intended to improve pump loading, reduce equipment wear and support production. Chord is also using computer-based scheduling to allocate workover rigs across its more than 5,000 wells in the basin, considering factors such as production volumes, repair costs, parts availability and the proximity of wells. Chord continued to advance its longer-lateral drilling program, turning in line four additional four-mile pads since its May update. The company has now executed 26 four-mile wells in total and remains on track to scale the program through the second half of 2026 and into 2027. Brown said early execution and performance from the four-mile wells were in line with expectations, though the company needs more time to assess the full contribution from the fourth mile of lateral length. The company is using tracers on four-mile wells and has observed tracer returns from toe stages at the surface, Henke said, indicating that those stages are contributing. Chord also completed what Henke described as the Bakken basin’s first trimulfrac. The company is evaluating trimulfrac and remote-fracking opportunities for 2027, with Henke estimating that trimulfrac could represent roughly 20% to 50% of next year’s program, depending on operational conditions. The company said faster frac cycle times accelerated some activity into the first half of the year, increasing first-half production while reducing expected second-half volumes relative to its initial outlook. Chord also cited reduced facilities-related capital from equipment reuse and scalable facility design. Chord updated its differential and realization outlook to reflect market conditions. Bakken crude traded at premiums to West Texas Intermediate during the second quarter, which management attributed to unusual market conditions, including a sharp oil-price increase and backwardation in the commodity curve. Michael Lou, Chord’s chief strategy officer and chief commercial officer, said Bakken crude has historically traded in a range from about $2 per barrel below WTI to $2 per barrel above it. Chord expects its net premium to fade through the remainder of 2026 and is guiding to pricing slightly below WTI, which Lou characterized as still strong basin differentials. Chord also added hedges for the next several years. The company has approximately 38% of its second-half 2026 oil volumes hedged and about 18% of 2027 oil volumes hedged. Brown said the company remains focused on disciplined capital allocation and continuous operational improvement amid uncertainty around oil prices and commodity-market volatility. Chord Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: CHRD), formerly known as Oasis Petroleum Inc, is an independent exploration and production company focused on the acquisition, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Chord Energy emerged from financial restructuring in early 2021 and rebranded in October 2022 to reflect its renewed strategic vision. The company’s core operations are concentrated in two prolific U.S. resource plays: the Williston Basin across North Dakota and Montana, and the Delaware Basin spanning parts of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Chord Energy Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Delivered strong second-quarter performance with oil production at the high end of guidance and capital spending below the midpoint, resulting in $414 million in adjusted free cash flow. Maintained a 'maintenance plus' program for over five years, focusing on a resilient production base with low declines and efficient drilling to ensure attractive supply costs. Accelerated the transition to longer laterals, having executed 26 four-mile wells to date, which structurally lowers the cost of supply and improves returns on invested capital. Implemented a comprehensive base production optimization strategy involving AI-driven artificial lift, chemical workovers, and debottlenecking to arrest declines and improve well productivity. Achieved significant cycle time improvements on the frac side, effectively de-risking the 2026 development program by shifting volumes to the front half of the year. Executed the basin's first 'trimulfrac' completion, demonstrating the potential for further cost reductions and efficiency gains in select development areas. Managed market volatility through disciplined capital allocation and a robust balance sheet, with normalized leverage declining below 1.5 turns at quarter-end. Increased the targeted return of capital to at least 75% of adjusted free cash flow starting in the third quarter, supported by the company's strengthened balance sheet. Maintained full-year oil volume guidance at 161,000 barrels per day, reflecting a 2,000 barrel per day increase from initial expectations due to base production investments. Anticipates a meaningful reduction in capital spending during the third and fourth quarters following the release of a second frac crew in July. Plans to scale the four-mile lateral program through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027 as execution and early performance remain in line with expectations. Expects Bakken crude premiums to WTI to fade over the course of the year, guiding toward differentials slightly below WTI for the second half of 2026. Raised full-year LOE guidance to $10.30 per BOE to reflect incremental investments in production enhancement initiatives and higher workover costs. Broadened the scope of the chemical workover program to test new treatments across a larger population of wells, though only limited volume upside is currently assumed. Noted that while production enhancement initiatives create near-term LOE pressure, management believes they maximize the long-term economic potential of the business. Announced the departure of General Counsel Shannon Kinney, who is returning to ConocoPhillips to fill their open General Counsel position. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management confirmed the 75% payout floor is expected to persist through Q3 and Q4 as long as leverage remains below the 0.5 turn threshold. The company intends to remain flexible but views the current balance sheet strength as a facilitator for consistent shareholder returns. Management stated it is still too early to definitively quantify the exact contribution of the fourth mile compared to three-mile wells due to the nature of production decline curves. Tracer data from the 'toe' stages confirms that the furthest sections of the laterals are contributing to production, and early results align with the modeled 80% contribution assumption. Chord expects trimulfracs to represent 20% to 50% of the 2027 program, depending on pad configurations and midstream readiness. The company is also investigating 'remote fracking' to allow simultaneous completions across multiple pads, further driving basin-leading efficiencies. AI is currently deployed across the entire rod pump fleet to optimize pump loading and reduce mechanical wear, maximizing instantaneous production. The company has also automated workover rig scheduling, using algorithms to optimize proximity, production impact, and parts availability to eliminate idle time.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Adjusted Free Cash Flow: $414 million for the second quarter, exceeding expectations. Capital Returned to Shareholders: $220 million, representing 54% of adjusted free cash flow, through base dividends and share repurchases. Cash Balance: $612 million at quarter end. Oil Production Guidance: Full-year 2026 average of 161,000 barrels of oil per day, 2,000 barrels higher than initial outlook. LOE Expense Guidance: Raised to $10.30 per BOE for the full year, reflecting production enhancement initiatives and higher workover costs. Hedged Oil Volumes: Approximately 38% of second half 2026 oil volumes hedged and about 18% of 2027 volumes. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with CHRD. Is CHRD fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 06, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Chord Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CHRD) delivered strong Q2 2026 results with oil production at the high end of guidance and adjusted free cash flow of $414 million, exceeding expectations. The company increased its targeted return of capital to at least 75% of adjusted free cash flow starting in Q3 2026, up from 54% returned in Q2. Chord Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CHRD) successfully executed 26 four-mile lateral wells, with early performance in line with expectations and tracers confirming contribution from all stages. The company completed the basin's first trimulfrac, which could reduce completion costs and improve efficiencies, with potential application to 20-50% of next year's program. Chord Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CHRD) is making progress on production optimization initiatives, including AI-driven rod pump optimization and expanded chemical workover programs, which have helped raise full-year oil volume guidance by 2,000 barrels per day. The company maintains a strong balance sheet with normalized leverage below 1.5x, supporting its capital return program and resilience across commodity price environments. Chord Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CHRD) faces uncertainty in commodity prices, particularly oil, due to unusually high volatility in 2026, which could impact future results. The company raised its full-year LOE guidance to $10.30 per BOE, reflecting higher costs from expanded production enhancement initiatives and increased workover expenses. Chord Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CHRD) expects Bakken crude differentials to fade from premiums to WTI seen in Q2, potentially reducing realizations in the second half of 2026. The company is still early in validating the full contribution of its four-mile lateral program, with only limited production history to confirm the expected 80% uplift from the fourth mile. Chord Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CHRD) is experiencing higher non-operated LOE and workover costs, which could pressure margins if not offset by production gains. The company's chemical workover program is in early testing stages, with limited volume upside assumed in guidance until results are proven repeatable and economically viable. Q: Chord Energy plans to increase its return of capital to at least 75% of adjusted free cash flow starting in the third quarter. Should we expect this level to continue through the fourth quarter and beyond?A: Danny Brown (CEO) confirmed that the company expects to maintain this 75% floor for the balance of the year. He noted that this commitment is tied to the balance sheet, which has grown to $612 million with normalized leverage declining below 1.5 turns. The company will remain flexible, but fully anticipates being above the 75% floor for the remainder of 2026. Q: Can you provide more detail on the chemical workover program? What does the typical workover program look like, what uplift have you seen, and when will you have enough data to incorporate these results into your oil outlook?A: Danny Brown (CEO) explained that the workover program covers a wide variety of activities, from fixing ESPs and tubing issues to chemical treatments. Early results from the chemical program have been encouraging, prompting the company to expand testing to a larger population of wells. However, they need to see production hang in for a longer period before incorporating full expectations into guidance. Darrin Henke (COO) added that some jobs involve lowering pumps, which has increased productivity, and they have successfully arrested the decline on a significant portion of wells. Q: You mentioned executing the basin's first trimulfrac. How does this fit into your overall inventory and what is the opportunity for this technology going into next year?A: Darrin Henke (COO) stated that the company is investigating trimulfracs for next year, potentially applying them to 20% to 50% of the program. They are also looking at remote fracking, which would allow trimulfracs on multiple pads simultaneously. The team was encouraged by the efficiency gains from the first trimulfrac, and they are excited about the potential to reduce completion costs while maintaining high execution quality. Q: Regarding the 4-mile lateral program, how many wells have 6-plus months of production, and is the fourth-mile contribution tracking the expected 80%? Also, is the gap between drilled and turned-in-line wells a function of lumpy completions?A: Danny Brown (CEO) noted that it is still too early to validate the full contribution from the fourth mile, as production profiles look similar during the early flow period and diverge later. The company is encouraged by what they see, and Darrin Henke (COO) added that they pump tracers on all 4-mile wells and are seeing tracers from the toe stages back at the surface, confirming those stages are contributing. The gap between drilled and TIL'd wells is due to the normal lag in completing wells and ensuring midstream and facilities are in place. Q: As you broaden the chemical program across hundreds of wells, how are you identifying the best candidates, and are you seeing meaningful differences in response by area or well vintage?A: Danny Brown (CEO) explained that the team has a selection criteria to identify the best candidates for various chemical treatments, which varies by the specific circumstances of each well. They are trying several different types of treatments and are encouraged by early results, which is why they are expanding the program. As they gather more data, they will pass along findings and incorporate them into future expectations. Q: On Slide 6, you list a robust opportunity set. Which initiatives are the low-hanging fruit versus those that will take more time? Are there any that stand out?A: Danny Brown (CEO) highlighted that improving ESP run time and efficiency is one of the largest opportunities, with a dedicated team organized around it. The chemical program has shown some significant improvements in well productivity, but they need to understand the mechanism to ensure replicability. He also mentioned that AI is being used broadly across the field for rod pump optimization and is now being applied to workover rig scheduling, which could have a big impact on operational efficiency. Q: You mentioned dropping the second frac crew in the second half. What is the timing of that, and how should we think about capital timing in 2H?A: Danny Brown (CEO) confirmed that the second frac crew was dropped in July, which is why they are confident about seeing third-quarter capital come down. This is part of the plan to reduce spending meaningfully in the third quarter, followed by another decline in the fourth quarter. Q: Can you provide more color on the production optimization efforts? Is there an element that is more widely deployed and a bigger contributor, such as AI deployment for artificial lift optimization?A: Danny Brown (CEO) explained that AI is broadly implemented across the field for rod pump optimization, which has been a significant win. The company is now looking at other opportunities where the computer can optimize operations instantaneously, such as workover rig scheduling. While chemical treatments may be more specific and bespoke, the AI-driven initiatives have broad application and are helping maximize production and reduce costs across the base. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

For the quarter ended June 2026, Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD) reported revenue of $1.49 billion, up 26.6% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $6.44, compared to $1.79 in the year-ago quarter. The reported revenue represents a surprise of +4.76% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $6.68, the EPS surprise was -3.59%. While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance. As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately. Here is how Chord Energy Corporation performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts: Production data - Crude Oil: 165,400.00 BBL/D versus 164,195.50 BBL/D estimated by four analysts on average. Production data - Natural gas: 408,000.00 Mcf/D versus 408,589.30 Mcf/D estimated by four analysts on average. Total average daily production: 286,400.00 BOE/D versus the four-analyst average estimate of 282,474.40 BOE/D. Production data - NGL: 53,000.00 Bbls versus the three-analyst average estimate of 50,585.43 Bbls. Average sales prices - NGL, with derivative settlements: $9.25 compared to the $7.16 average estimate based on two analysts. Average sales prices - Natural gas, with realized derivatives: $1.29 compared to the $1.11 average estimate based on two analysts. Average sales prices - Crude oil, with realized derivatives: $86.94 versus the two-analyst average estimate of $86.66. View all Key Company Metrics for Chord Energy Corporation here>>> Shares of Chord Energy Corporation have returned +17.2% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +3.5% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), indicating that it could underperform the broader market in the near term. 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 Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD) came out with quarterly earnings of $6.44 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.68 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.79 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -3.59%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post earnings of $3.35 per share when it actually produced earnings of $4.56, delivering a surprise of +36.12%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Chord Energy Corporation, which belongs to the Zacks Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry, posted revenues of $1.49 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.76%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.18 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Chord Energy Corporation shares have added about 47.7% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 13%. While Chord Energy Corporation has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Chord Energy Corporation was unfavorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to underperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $3.71 on $1.17 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $18.32 on $4.86 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States is currently in the bottom 13% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, Northern Oil and Gas (NOG), is yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 6. This independent oil and gas company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.02 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -25.6%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 3.2% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. Northern Oil and Gas' revenues are expected to be $545.76 million, down 5% from the year-ago quarter. 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 Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research