E

Golar LNG Limited (GLNG) reported impressive second-quarter 2026 results, wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and improved year over year. Quarterly earnings of 68 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents and increased year over year. Revenues of $130.5 million outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $125 million and improved 72% year over year. Golar LNG Limited price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Golar LNG Limited Quote Adjusted EBITDA of $127.36 million improved 159% year over year. GLNG exited the second quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $870.47 million compared with $1.01 billion at the end of the prior quarter. GLNG’s share of contractual debt at the end of the reported quarter increased 31% to $2.68 billion. GLNG’s board of directors approved a second-quarter 2026 dividend of 25 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Sept. 2, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 24. As of June 30, 2026, GLNG had 102.1 million shares issued and outstanding. Currently, GLNG sports a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Eni S.p.A.E reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.76 per American Depository Receipt, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.90 by 7.4%. The bottom line increased 122.8% from the year-ago quarter’s 79 cents. Quarterly revenues of $26.35 billion rose 21.5% year over year and surpassed the consensus estimate of $24 billion by 9.8%. Higher commodity realizations, production growth and stronger segment profitability supported revenues. Chevron CorporationCVX reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.06 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.80 by 4.5%. The outperformance was driven by higher commodity prices, increased upstream production following the Hess acquisition, stronger refined-product margins and higher sales volumes. The company generated revenues of $70.06 billion. The metric beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $57.53 billion and increased 56.3% year over year.  The increase was primarily driven by a 51.4% year-over-year increase in sales and other operating revenues, along with a 296.5% rise in income from equity affiliates. 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 Golar LNG Limited (GLNG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eni SpA (E) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Eni S.p.A. E reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.76 per American Depository Receipt, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.90 by 7.4%. The bottom line increased 122.8% from the year-ago quarter’s 79 cents. Quarterly revenues of $26.35 billion rose 21.5% year over year and surpassed the consensus estimate of $24 billion by 9.8%. Higher commodity realizations, production growth and stronger segment profitability supported revenues. Eni SpA price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Eni SpA Quote Eni operates through four business segments — Exploration & Production; Global Gas & LNG Portfolio, and Power; Refining, Chemicals and Sites in Transformation; and Transition Businesses. Exploration & Production turnover increased 25% year over year to €5.86 billion. Pro-forma adjusted EBIT nearly doubled to €4.77 billion from €2.42 billion, reflecting favorable volume and production mix, cost discipline and stronger commodity realizations. The negative impact of foreign currency translation partly offset these gains. Total hydrocarbon production was 1,789 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d), up 7% from the prior-year quarter. Liquids production increased 1% to 832 thousand barrels per day, while natural gas output climbed 14% to 5,006 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). The average liquids realization rose to $96.50 per barrel from $62.77 a year ago. The realized natural gas price was $8.42 per thousand cubic feet, up 18% from $7.14 in the prior-year period. Production growth was supported by project ramp-ups in Norway, Congo and Mexico, new start-ups in Angola, and the contribution from Searah, Eni’s joint venture with Petronas across Indonesia/Malaysia. Underlying production, excluding portfolio and price effects, increased 11% year over year. The company also advanced several major developments. It reached final investment decisions for Baleine Phase 3 offshore Cote d’Ivoire, the Greater PAJ project offshore Angola and the Cronos gas project offshore Cyprus. Management expects its strong project pipeline to add 850 MBoe/d of new production by 2030. Global Gas & LNG Portfolio and Power sales increased 18% year over year to €4.06 billion. The businesses generated pro-forma adjusted EBIT of €503 million, up 30% from €387 million in the prior-year quarter. Worldwide natural gas sales rose 19% to 10.75 billion cubic meters (bcm), supported by higher volumes in Italy and other European markets, including sales to hubs in Benelux, France and Germany/Austria. LNG sales increased 4% to 2.9 bcm from 2.8 bcm in the corresponding period of 2025. The core gas portfolio’s adjusted EBIT advanced 46% to €468 million, aided by asset optimization and other benefits from contract renegotiations and settlements. In the second quarter of 2026, thermoelectric production totaled 3.91 terawatt-hours (TWh), 14% lower than 4.53 TWh in the prior-year quarter. The decrease was due to a lower plant utilization rate. Transition Businesses generated pro-forma adjusted EBIT of €521 million, nearly doubling from €262 million a year earlier. Total sales managed by Enilive declined 3% year over year to 5.24 mmtons. Enilive’s bio throughput came in at 275 thousand tons, flat year over year. Enilive’s pro-forma adjusted EBIT more than doubled to €295 million, aided by improved biorefining margins despite a planned shutdown at the Venice biorefinery. Plenitude’s pro-forma adjusted EBIT increased to €226 million from €133 million a year ago. Performance benefited from renewable capacity growth and the suspension of depreciation ahead of its planned deconsolidation. Installed renewable capacity reached 6 gigawatt (GW) at the end of the period compared with 4.5 GW a year earlier, representing organic development in Spain, the UK, Italy, Greece and Kazakhstan, along with the acquisitions in France and the United States. Retail gas sales managed by Plenitude declined 5% year over year to 0.65 bcm. The Refining, Chemicals and Sites in Transformation segment reported a pro-forma adjusted loss of €40 million, narrowing from a loss of €193 million in the year-ago quarter. Refining generated a pro forma adjusted profit of €80 million as margins improved and major maintenance activities were completed. Total refinery throughputs were 5.1 million tons (mmtons), down 20% from 6.4 mmtons in the corresponding period of 2025. The Standard Eni Refining Margin averaged $8.3 per barrel compared with $4.8 per barrel in the prior-year quarter. Petrochemical product sales decreased 15% year over year to 0.61 mmtons. The Chemical segment reported a negative pro forma adjusted EBIT of €65 million, marking an improvement of 65% from the year-ago figure of negative €184 million. Restructuring measures, prior plant closures and temporary product shortages supported the improvement. However, higher freight and logistics costs, narrower crude differentials and continued softness in chemical demand limited the segment’s recovery. The Sites in Transformation business reported a pro-forma adjusted loss of €55 million due to plant restructuring expenses. Adjusted cash flow from operations before working-capital changes increased 61% to €4.47 billion. Organic capital expenditures declined 9% to €1.84 billion. Net debt stood at €11.27 billion, while pro-forma gearing reached 10%, the low end of management’s target range. Eni raised its 2026 underlying production growth forecast to around 5% from 3-4%. Adjusted cash flow guidance increased to €15 billion, while gross capital spending was projected at €7 billion and net capital spending was lowered to less than €5 billion. The company expanded its 2026 share-repurchase program to €3.4 billion and maintained its planned dividend of €1.10 per share. E currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Some better-ranked stocks from the energy sector are Par Pacific Holdings PARR, Valero Energy VLO and FuelCell Energy FCEL, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here. Par Pacific Holdings operates an integrated downstream energy business across the United States, with fuel retail operations in Hawaii, Washington and Idaho, refining operations in Hawaii, Wyoming, Washington and Montana, and a supporting logistics network. Its refineries have a combined crude oil throughput capacity of 219,000 barrels per day and produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, marine fuels, asphalt and other petroleum products. Valero Energy is a leading refining player with a robust network of 14 refineries and a combined high-complexity throughput capacity of 3 million barrels per day, which distinguishes it from other independent refiners. Valero’s refineries have a combined Nelson Complexity Index of 11.5, which implies that they can process a wide variety of feedstocks, convert them into higher-value products and shift product yields according to market conditions. FuelCell Energy is a clean energy company that offers scalable, reliable, low-carbon power solutions. It produces power using flexible fuel sources such as biogas, natural gas and hydrogen. The company’s proprietary molten carbonate fuel cell systems generate electricity through an electrochemical process instead of burning fuel, reducing carbon emissions and minimizing the environmental impact of power generation. FCEL is anticipated to play a crucial role in the energy transition by enabling industries and communities to shift from traditional fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives. 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 Eni SpA (E) : Free Stock Analysis Report Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) : Free Stock Analysis Report FuelCell Energy, Inc. (FCEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (PARR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET Chief Executive Officer - Claudio Descalzi Chief Financial Officer - Francesco Gattei Chief Operating Officer Natural Resources - Guido Brusco Director Global Gas & LNG Portfolio - Cristian Signoretto Chief Operating Officer Energy Evolution - Giuseppe Ricci Chief Executive Officer Versalis - Adriano Alfani Chief Executive Officer Enilive - Stefano Ballista Head of Technological Service R&D - Lorenzo Fiorillo Investor Relations - Jon Rigby Operator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Eni's 2026 First Half Results Conference Call, hosted by Mr. Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer. [Operator Instructions] I am now handing you over to your host to begin today's conference. Thank you. Claudio Descalzi: Thank you. Good morning. Good afternoon for being with us today. Our second quarter and first half results clearly reflect our successful execution of the strategy and the objectives we have consistently communicated. In Q2, Eni generated EUR 5.4 billion pro forma EBIT and EUR 2.3 billion net income, both doubling year-on-year and EUR 4.5 billion of cash flow from operations, up over 60%. This growth significantly outpaced the increase in Brent prices over the same period, demonstrating the strength of our operating leverage and our ability to absorb a highly unfavorable foreign exchange environment. Looking at the first half of the year, we delivered a remarkable 40% year-on-year increase in pro forma EBIT. Reported gearing remained stable quarter-on-quarter, while pro forma gearing declined to 10%, reaching the lower end of our target range. Overall, this performance reflects excellent operational execution, effective capture of market opportunities and the continued delivery of our consistent strategy. The first half of 2026, marked by the emergence of a new crisis in the Gulf has once again exposed our industry to extraordinary volatility, yet Eni has demonstrated its ability to effectively mitigate external pressures. Our resilience is underpinned by a broad geographic diversification, strong operational efficiency and the deployment of proprietary technologies. At the same time, our robust organic growth continues to be fueled by our outstanding exploration success and a deep pipeline of development opportunities. Most importantly, our growth is increasingly multidimensional. While exploration and production remains our highly competitive core business, we are rapidly scaling attractive growth platforms right across the energy value chain. Specifically, I would like to highlight 3 key pillars of our strategy. First, diversification. We are well diversified across the geographies, businesses and technologies. While some of our operations have been affected by events in the Middle East, the overall impact has not been material. Actions taken in 2026 have further strengthened this diversification, increasing our exposure to Asia and South America, expanding our transition-related businesses and opening new opportunity in trading activities, critical minerals and stationary batteries. Second, growth. We continue to deliver a unique double engine of growth, combining industry-leading organic upstream production with a rapid parallel expansion in low-carbon energy. Third, financial performance. We continue to generate outstanding financial results with over 60% of our original plan targets already met year-to-date, also thanks to the fast time to market of our projects. Our satellite model increasingly acknowledged as a material positive differentiator for Eni continues to derisk the balance sheet, attracting third-party capital to fund our expansion across new technologies and geographies. Turning to Upstream. We delivered an outstanding 8% year-on-year reported production growth. In the first half of the year or 11% underlying, we fully offset Middle East volume losses, thanks to the efficient execution of major operated projects, including Agogo in Angola, Amoca in Mexico, Congo LNG Phase 2 as well as a strong contribution from Vår Energi. This growth is entirely organic and reflects investment and exploration successes achieved over several years. As discussed during Q1, our unique 2026 exploration performance has added over 1 billion barrels of new resources supported by credible development pathways. This success is driven by key discoveries, including Algaita-01 in Angola, Murene South-1 in Côte d'Ivoire, 2 offshore gas discoveries near Bahr Essalam in Libya, the Deniz Discovery offshore Egypt and the Giant Geliga-1 gas condensate discovery in Indonesia. We have further refreshed our future pipeline with new acreage position in Uruguay, Timor-Leste and Gambia. Furthermore, to secure our medium-term production capacity during the plan period, we have sanctioned 3 major projects: Baleine Phase 3 in Côte d'Ivoire, Geng North in Indonesia and Cronos in Cyprus. Beyond these projects, we are shaping our global footprint through the buildout of 2 diversified regional clusters. In Asia, the Searah business combination completed in June created our largest satellite platform to date and established a leading player in the Pacific region. Initial production exceeded expectations, surpassing 300,000 barrels per day and backed by a 3 billion barrel reserves upside. It has a clear path to approach 800,000 barrels per day by 2030. In the Americas, we continue to advance significant opportunities in Argentina and Venezuela, which together with our existing position in Mexico and the United States, represent an increasingly important component of our upstream portfolio. In detail, in Venezuela, we are finalizing a negotiation for new contracts for Junin-5 and Corocoro. Simultaneously, we have finalized the gas export agreement for the Giant Perla field. Collectively, our footprint in Venezuela unlocks an outstanding growth potential of more than 5.5 billion barrels of recoverable resources. Meanwhile, in Argentina, our newly consolidated asset of an exceptional 25 Tcf of gas equivalent to 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable resources plus an additional 500 million barrels of condensate, bringing total gross recoverable resources in the country to 4.8 billion barrels. The new material initiatives in Argentina, Venezuela, East Asia, together with our African portfolio, provide absolute confidence in our long-term trajectory. As a result, we now expect production growth to be around 4% CAGR guidance through 2030, while we are also developing a unique visibility on a further wave of growth opportunities beyond 2030. Importantly, through portfolio high grading and strategic moves like our recently announced Mercuria joint venture, this volume growth will translate directly into cash flow, underpinning our primary target, growing our upstream free cash flow per barrel by more than 50% by 2030. Our Q2 results demonstrate Eni's ability both to capture favorable market conditions and to enhance underlying profitability. E&P delivered outstanding production growth and successfully captured the benefits of the market environment with particularly strong contributions from Norway and Congo. GGP generated pro forma EBIT of EUR 0.47 billion, confirming better-than-expected performance and supporting a further increase in our EBIT guidance to over EUR 1.4 billion. We also see additional upside potential in the second half, supported by current pricing conditions and inventory replenishment dynamics. Plenitude and Enilive together generated EUR 670 million pro forma EBITDA in the quarter and EUR 1.13 billion in the first half, supporting an increase in full year guidance to EUR 2.6 billion compared with the original EUR 2.4 billion. Within transformation businesses, refinery utilization recovered following the major turnaround activities completed during the first half. Versalis also continued to reduce losses in line with the improvement plan, also supported by better market conditions. Contribution from associates benefited from supportive macroeconomic conditions and the consolidation of Searah from June onwards. The first half tax rate of approximately 39% was below our full year guidance, reflecting the impact of high-grading upstream production, the accounting impact of satellite, the transition toward a more sustainability, diversified overall income mix and the benefit of our restructuring and performance improvement initiatives. Cash flow from operations remained strong, supported by dividend contribution from associates and continued working capital improvement. Operational working capital generated a positive contribution in the quarter, and we continue to expect an overall reduction throughout 2026. Capital expenditure amounted to EUR 1.8 billion in Q2, and we continue to expect approximately EUR 7 billion of gross CapEx for the full year, while we also reduced the net figure to below EUR 5 billion. We paid the fourth and final quarterly dividend related to 2025 and repurchased EUR 600 million of shares. Since 2021 outstanding shares have been reduced by around 18%. In light of the raised guidance for CFFO to EUR 15 billion, we now expect to repurchase EUR 3.4 billion of shares in the 2026 program, representing a combined yield to our investor of around 10%. Pro forma gearing at the quarter end remained at 10%, the lower end of our target range, and we expect reported gearing to converge toward that level by year-end. In conclusion, the combination of our upstream positioning and growth outlook, our integration across the entire energy value chain, the increasing value creation from our transition businesses and our strong financial foundations position us competitively in a world that has entered a new energy paradigm. This is confirmed by the revised guidance for most of our businesses that translate into an increased distribution. Underlying oil and gas production growth is now seen exceeding 5% above the upper end of the previous range. GGP pro forma EBIT is raised to over EUR 1.4 billion, plus 40% compared with the initial level. Enilive pro forma adjusted EBITDA is revised up by 18% at EUR 1.3 billion. And at a revised scenario of $85 per barrel Brent, adjusted CFFO is expected at EUR 15 billion, determining a higher buyback of EUR 3.4 billion. The new buyback represents 127% increase over the initial guidance of EUR 1.5 billion at the budgeted cash flow. The potential special dividend related to oil price above $90 per barrel or gas price and SR margin more than 50% of the original budget assumptions will be determined in the last quarter. In this environment, Eni is in one of the strongest position in its history. That concludes my remarks. And together with my colleagues from Eni management team, I'm ready to take your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] I now leave the floor to Mr. Jon Rigby for the Q&A session. Jon Rigby: [Operator Instructions] We'll start with Alejandro Vigil at Santander. Alex? Alejandro Vigil: The first question is about the guidance about production. Definitely, this year looks very strong also with the Searah consolidation. If you can give us some numbers about the outlook of 2030 of production, just to have some indication of the range of potential volumes that year. And the second question is about the European natural gas market. You mentioned that in the guidance for global gas and LNG, you are not including any upside from the current situation. If you can elaborate about how you see the second half of the year. Claudio Descalzi: Thank you. For production outlook, I think I -- Guido will take over for the question and if he's okay. Is -- Cristian is there for -- to give you an update on the gas in the second half, as you asked. Guido Brusco: Yes. So on production, of course, you noticed that we have improved our guidance in 2026. Originally, we provided a range of 3% to 4% growth underlying, which now we increased to 5%, and this is coming from a higher contribution from some countries like Libya, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and of course, the anticipation of the business combination in Searah. While for the 2030, we have also provided a stronger support to our originally provided guidance. And you have noticed that we have accelerated some major FID. We have included some projects which initially were beyond 2030 and that we have now anticipated to the 2030 plan. Claudio Descalzi: So just to give some more color on our production. If we look at all the projects that in our slide, we have 54 projects that are coming from our organic growth, our exploration is clear, there is something that is coming from the exploration we performed in the last 10 years. And most of these projects are already in a very advanced -- some we took the FID, some are really in execution, but most of them are with the [ POD done ]. So that is going to give that 4% we said by 2030 and is going to confirm a solid growth also after 2030. Cristian Signoretto: So when it comes to the gas market scenario for the second half, I would say our scenario is currently in line with the forward curves, as you can see. But I think we can say that the situation is fairly fragile given the geopolitical situation and the let's say, delay in the replenishment of the European storage. So we think that depending clearly on the evolution of the situation, we can see upside potential in terms of volatility and flat price numbers when it comes to the second half. And I think the idea is that we are ready, clearly with our assets to take advantage of that situation. Jon Rigby: Thanks, Alex. We're going to now move on to Biraj Borkhataria of RBC. Biraj, are you there? Biraj Borkhataria: The first one is just on Venezuela, which you touched on in your initial remarks. There were some reports recently that the government had presented new terms to the industry. I'm just wondering if you thought those were sufficient to drive investment beyond 2027 and '28 and as we see more on the oil side than the gas side. And then the second question is just on refining. The strength in the downstream has been a big theme this quarter. I know you don't have a huge amount of exposure to this, but I just noticed your indicator was down quarter-on-quarter. I guess we're looking at the cracks on the screen, which are very strong. So could you just help me understand why you're not able to take advantage of that and how we should think about that going to the second half? Claudio Descalzi: So Venezuela, maybe Guido can complement what I'm going to say. Venezuela, we are in negotiation. very, very open, clear and transparent and very good negotiation. We are discussing very well with the minister with PDVSA, clearly also with our American partners. And we have a big potential, as we said, we have one of the best block in Junin-5. We have Corocoro. We have Perla for which we already signed a contract that has been very, very quick in a couple of months ago, we signed a contract for export. That is very good because it's going to complement our domestic production and that gives more breath and more space for future investment. As you know, we already developed all the -- most of the infrastructure for the second phase, so we can really go fast for the second phase and then put in place a floating LNG for export. So up to now, Venezuela is responding very well. Clearly, we are going to negotiate a contract that allows us to make investments. We have to remember the history of this country. It's not that we forgot what we have in the past. So we are prudent. But I think that what happened until now is encouraging us to go ahead with our Venezuelan partner with PDVSA and the minister. Just to talk about term, I'd like that maybe Francesco say something about term and then if there is anything to add for Venezuela or in general, for downstream, also Pino can add something and Stefano Ballista, if there is something for the biofuel refineries. Francesco Gattei: Yes. About our benchmark refining margin, clearly, this benchmark is, say, a nominal value that is representing a status that is a normalized status of the market. So it takes account of the crudes that are generally imported in our refineries, taking into account of the freight costs that are normally assumed for this transportation and for this logistic events. The situation that we faced since March is completely, let's say, out of norm. So the term that you can read on a just generic way is not the actual margin that we are able to capture because there are some factors of discount, mainly higher freight costs, higher logistic cost, differential of crudes that are not matching the original crudes that were included in formula, different yields. And also there is some hedging, let's say, factors that weighted because we covered a small portion of the throughput during the quarters because we take advantage of the scenario. Clearly, the spike that occurred in the last month is so, let's say, material that has limited this opportunity. In general, you have to consider that what you read as an average on a nominal term to be converted in our actual figure will be with a discount of $2, $3 per barrel. Giuseppe Ricci: Okay. It's very clear. The fundamental is in any case that we have completed all the turnaround in the first and in the second Q -- in second quarter. And so we are very able to maintain the maximum capacity in the third Q. And that means with this current margin a lot of rise... Guido Brusco: If I may, I'd like to complement with some operational information. On the gas business -- Venezuela, of course, -- on the gas business, as you know, in March, we have signed a sustainability agreement on Cardon IV. And PDVSA is honoring this agreement, so it's providing cargo to pay the current gas invoices. On the other hand, we are preparing the plan of development for Perla to export gas and the filing of this POD is imminent. On the oil business, as Claudio said, we are at the very final stage of the negotiation, and we have also prepared ourselves, and we are ready to mobilize as soon as we sign this contract, the rigs to exploit the resources there and make use of the spare capacity that the facilities in Venezuela have to increase production, of course. Jon Rigby: We're now going to move to Josh Stone at UBS, Josh. Joshua Eliot Stone: Two questions, please. Firstly, on CapEx, and thanks for the project list on Slide 6, it's useful. If I understand correctly, you want to develop these new projects without increasing spending. So it sort of brings up the question of which projects are falling off the list? And I noticed in the release, there was some impairment related to a slowdown in more marginal fields. So maybe anything around the sort of which fields are more marginal, which geographies are more marginal to make room for these new projects would be useful. And then second question on chemicals. The losses clearly narrowed this quarter, but you're still losing money. Maybe just talk about the trends of earnings, what you're seeing for margins in chemicals and how much of the improvement could be attributed to the self-help versus the wider macro? Claudio Descalzi: So for CapEx, so it's true, we are growing. And also, we demonstrated in the last couple of years that we are growing without increasing CapEx. That means that it comes from at least 2 factors. One, that our -- we are very effective and efficient in developing field. So in the last project, I think in the last 10 projects that we developed, I talk about large projects, we expect not just the timing, but also the budget. So we never exceed our budget. That is a very critical point in the upstream, especially when you develop deep offshore or floating LNG or other stuff that you're able to respect time and budget. Secondly, we -- as you know, we create a different kind of economic model. So satellite model through which we deconsolidate and through the growth component and the value component, they have production, they can justify their investments without really creating additional burden on our balance sheet. And that allow us to go faster and keep a very clean or light balance sheet that allow us to be -- to expand or increase our remuneration policy, for example, that is, as you know, is our priority, and that's what we demonstrated in the last couple of years. So it's not a question to delete or write off you sell marginal field. We never write-off marginal field. We farm out through an M&A process that was very successful through which we got some good income. But I think that's the reason -- the 2 principal reasons is what I told you. So I don't know if you want to -- really to add something. Otherwise, I give the ball, I'll pass the ball to Adriano to talk about chemicals and chemicals trend and how we're going to do. Adriano Alfani: Josh, thanks for the question. As you well described in the question, the result in Thermochemical is improving quarter-over-quarter. In the second quarter compared to the same quarter of last year, we have seen a major improvement in the range of 3 digit -- above 3 digit. We need to make a distinction between what is transformation and what is the scenario that also as you ask. In terms of transformation, we are performing in line with what we say to the market that we expect that on a yearly basis, we have in the ballpark of EUR 250 million. And if you see right now the trajectory of result of the transformation, we are a little above 10% above this target of EUR 250 million. Right now, we estimate more in the range of EUR 280 million, EUR 300 million. Part is also scenario. We have seen an improvement in the scenario in the second half. You need to consider the net impact of the scenario because you know that we are energy intensive or feedstock intensive. So of course, whatever we have seen in terms of increase of feedstock energy, we, of course, is higher cost for us, but we have seen also a shortage in the market, not an increase of demand. This is something that we should ground as a scenario. There is no increase of demand, but there's a shortage of product because for 6, 8 weeks, due to the Hormuz closure, we have not seen import from Middle East. But after 8 weeks, we have seen an increase of import of U.S. So whatever probably was not coming from Middle East has been replaced. So we are now back to the starting point. But for sure, in the second quarter, we've seen an improvement of the scenario. To the last part of your question, how much is this trajectory going forward, it's based on what we declared to the market. We expect to continue to improve performance due to transformation of the improvement on a yearly base for coming years is a 50% transformation, 50% is new platforms, more or less. Jon Rigby: Thanks, Josh. We're now going to move to Alessandro Pozzi at Mediobanca. Alessandro? Alessandro Pozzi: The first one, for Claudio. And going back to production, of course, you have a lot of production coming through to 2030. But if you add all the other opportunities that you have in Cyprus, additional upside in Indonesia, Argentina, Venezuela, it looks like the potential for underlying growth is very large even beyond 2030. And of course, there's always a need for disposal. But putting disposals aside, what could be the potential underlying growth of the portfolio that you have today looking into, let's say, middle of next decade? And the second one, kind of follow-on disposals. Can you give us an update on the disposals that you expect in the upstream, maybe Indonesia as well, there's a bit more to be sold there and also on the scope of the agreement with Ares in the upstream? Claudio Descalzi: Thank you for your question. Clearly, we in next year, we are going to have an update. But what we said, and I just said is that we -- the expectation up to 2030 is 4% growth. After 2030, maybe it can be better than that for sure. I don't think that there is another company that has more than 54 projects for startup really organic with very low cost. So we're going to see. Clearly, we have to understand what is the situation. It's very difficult to talk about the end of the year with this kind of volatility with all this happening. And it's hard to talk about 2027. Also if we are really sorry and we don't have -- we don't scare anything. But clearly, if we have to talk in 5, 6, 7 years, what is going to happen. I think that we are in a situation where we -- the world needs more energy. That is clear. There is an energy race among the big champions, the big countries for different reasons, demography, clear, but also we talk about hyperscale data center, AI and the growth rate as the industry and more -- a lot of countries are demonstrating. So we need energy. And now we understood that we need oil and gas, that is clear. And we are really well placed to give an answer to this call, this big call about oil and gas. I don't think that we've never been so strong. And inside the industry in terms of number of projects and geographies because when I talk about 54 new projects, we are talking about at least 13 or 14 different countries. So diversification as a key word, diversification. That means that we don't have all the eggs in the same basket. And each country is very rich in terms of future growth. So I can -- from a -- I can tell you, we are in a good position. We are in a good position in a world that needs is really -- they need energy. They are hungry for energy, starving for energy, and Eni is really in a very strong position, never been so strong. Disposal, I think that I give the floor to Francesco to talk about the status of our disposal. Francesco Gattei: Clearly, the plan for this year is almost completed. As you mentioned, we are in advanced stage for the last step that is the Indonesia 10% that has already entered the first -- the last stage. We have completed a number of deals and that are pending the closing. We have done the Nigeria onshore disposal. We have done -- we are running the increase of capital in Plenitude with the consequence in terms of balance sheet. We announced this deal related to infrastructure. So there are various activities. For the coming years, we will continue to maximize the valorization of our portfolio, our portfolio is continuing -- is a live animal. It's a living animal. It's added opportunity through exploration, through business development, business combination. And this means that there's opportunity to valorize part of that to reduce exposure to areas or regions that are no more core or eventually also to improve the valuation of our transformation business. So I think that we proved that -- I remember the analysts who were considering last year as the top of our disposal plan. I think that also we proved that this year, we have new ideas to put on the table. I think this will continue in the coming years, but will be part of the next 4-year plan. Alessandro Pozzi: And what is the perimeter of the infrastructure deal? Francesco Gattei: The infrastructure deal is a partnership that is working on a generic. It's not a specific set of assets. Infrastructure, you know that the upstream business has many kind of infrastructures. So the idea is not to build or to identify a geography, a field or something that is well defined, but it is a generic description of a broader portfolio and creating a financial synthetic element that simulate the cash flow related to that infrastructure. And this is the way that we, let's say, created that has a potential to extract more value from infrastructure that has a fixed return, why we would like to invest in double-digit, high double-digit return on our upstream assets. Jon Rigby: Thanks, Alessandro. We're going to move to Ahmed Ben Salem at ODDO. Are you there? Ahmed Ben Salem: You mentioned the possible extraordinary dividend review in Q3. What would trigger that decision? And if cash flow remains strong, would buyback still be your preferred way of returning excess cash to shareholders? Francesco Gattei: We have set the rules for the excess dividend. So the rules are, if we are assuming in a full year, the $90 Brent scenario, currently, we are at $91. So we are in the money for the dividend -- excess dividend distribution. If we assume the 50% increase of refining margin, $9 is the trigger, and we are well above that number. And we assume it is 50% on the EUR 36 megawatt hour that is -- that was a budget for TTF and EUR 54 means the 50% increase. So we will be above the EUR 54 on average. And currently, we are probably in the range of EUR 47, EUR 48. So there will be an extra dividend. So if we want to say simulate with the current level of year-to-date price, there is an extra dividend. We will see in September how the market will evolve, which our expectation for the end of the year and clearly, how the company has performed in terms of cash generation. Claudio Descalzi: Yes, what we said, just to specify that in October, we have to take the decision. We're going to pay the extra dividend in the fourth quarter, so by December. So just to remember what is going to happen, it's not... Francesco Gattei: Yes. And just another element. If we are clearly in that situation where there is an extra dividend, to consider there is probably also an extra buyback because if we enter in a higher price, there will be a ceiling up to $4 billion, but we are currently at $3.4 billion. But we saturate the 60% cash flow from operation distribution up to the limit, yes. Jon Rigby: Great. Thanks, Francesco. Thanks, Ahmed. We're going to move to Michele Della Vigna at Goldman Sachs. Michele? Michele Della Vigna: And again, congratulations on the strong results. Two questions. First, I wonder if you had any comments on the situation in Kazakhstan around the enforcement of this $5 billion environmental fine in Kazakhstan. And secondly, could you shed a bit more light on this Mercuria Eni global trading joint venture? What you expect it could contribute in the coming years and whether effectively GGP becomes part of the joint venture? Claudio Descalzi: Okay. I think for both -- for both Kazakhstan and Mercuria, Guido will go to answer and maybe I can add something, but I'm sure that we'll just cover completely your question. Guido Brusco: Okay. So let's start on arbitration and this ongoing arbitration. Of course, first of all, let me clarify that the operator and all the shareholders in support, I mean, the operations have been conducted in compliance with the law of Kazakhstan. And NCOC had all the permits required to do so. That's an important element that we always have to underline. However, the Republic of Kazakhstan through various instrumentalities and agencies continue to pursue this sulfur fine. And has also commenced some enforcement steps. Despite, we have to say, there is under the commercial arbitration under the PSA, which is ongoing, there was a restraining order from an international tribunal prohibiting the Republic to take any measure to enforce the fine and during the arbitration, of course. And of course, the operator is continuing to challenge this sulfur fine. So including, of course, an international -- an investment treaty arbitration, which is currently ongoing also in -- so the situation is, of course, ongoing. At the moment, they made some steps. But at the moment, they are on hold on any other kind of enforcement. And this is the current situation on Kazakhstan. As far as the trading, clearly, this is part of our transformation of the trading business. The trading business initially was more a kind of a business service provider in our corporation. Then we became more a marketplace player, again, within the company. And then the third and last step was to merge with a pure trader to combine the best of the 2 worlds, to combine the variety, the diversified set of industrial assets, the structured supply portfolio of a corporate like Eni, very well diversified, as Claudio said, both in terms of business and geographies with the operational flexibility, the systems of a pure player. Of course, I mean, it is a 50-50 JV. And we expect in the long term that this JV and the trading activity will help to raise and lift our ROACE by 1 or 2 percentage points. This is yes, and of course, the cash flow per barrel and the overall result of the company. Jon Rigby: Thanks, Michele. We're going to now move to Fergus Neve at Rothschild & Redburn. Fergus? Fergus Neve: Brilliant. Two questions, please. Just first on Enilive, where the results were particularly strong this quarter, and it was great to see that feed through to the guidance upgrade. Could you just give us some color on the relative split of the results between the marketing business and the biofuels business this quarter and perhaps also comment on how your biofuel margins have been looking so far in 3Q? And then secondly, just following up from the earlier refining question. So the assumption in the scenario for this has stepped up quite a bit for the second half for the overall number in the full year. I just wondered if you could give us some color on where the new kind of adjusted is set or has been tracking so far in July and perhaps some thoughts on how much of an uplift that might give to the business moving forward in the second half? Claudio Descalzi: Okay. So the first question for Stefano and the second one for Pino, Stefano and Pino as well. Stefano Ballista: Yes, thank you for the question. Yes, the quarter has been very strong and result has been driven by a step-up of the biorefinery performance. In terms of overall result, out of the EUR 375 million EBITDA adjusted million as the rough number is around 35%, 40% contribution from the biorefinery. And this has been driven, yes, by the scenario improvement significant improvement, but also actually by a very strong performance from the asset. If you look to the available asset, Chalmette and Gela in this quarter, overall utilization rate has been above 90%. And then on top, we put in place several optimization levers in order to extract all the value available. Moving forward, situation, it's going to proceed in that direction. Rationale is given by the fact that this market scenario is underpinned by an increased demand. Demand for 2026 is foreseen around 20 million tonnes versus the 16 million of 2025. And this is due by the rollout of new regulation in Europe with the Renewable Energy Directive, we got just a few days ago, Spain, again, confirming target moving from energy content to GHG reduction and banning double counting. And then on top in U.S., where we got in April the confirmation on the new target from the Environmental Protection Agency. And even if we look at the market as a whole, we saw that the flows from U.S. to Europe are pretty much dropping. And this is because the value of both market is quite relevant and strong given what I said. So this is another strong signal moving forward. Giuseppe Ricci: Okay. About the same, what we are seeing now in July is a very, very high level, above $30 per barrel. That is -- should remain very bullish in the next month because the combination of many factors. First of all, the storage is very, very low for all the product. There is a low refining capacity in operation. And we are in the driving season. The crack spread that we are seeing in gas oil, but also in gasoline are very, very high, and there is also some premium to import product. So what we expect in the next month is a very, very bullish period, and we are gaining of this because we are anticipating the shutdown of Sannazzaro and Milazzo refinery. They are the 2 main capacity and conversion refinery that we have. We -- the third refinery Taranto has planned the shutdown for maintenance in September, but we are moving this shutdown for a couple of months in order to gain all the period. Jon Rigby: Very good. Thanks, Pino. We're now going to move to Paul Redman of BNP Paribas. Paul? Paul Redman: I had one question on strategy, and that was just around the 320 service stations you recently acquired in Europe. I just want to understand the strategic rationale for buying fuel stations today, but also what the impact could be on earnings from the deal? And then secondly, you guide to underlying improvement in your cash flow from operations of EUR 700 million this year. I wanted to ask what are the key drivers of that underlying improvement? Francesco Gattei: About the acquisition in Central Europe, mainly Germany and Denmark. This is part of a strategy of expanding our Enilive marketing activity. Enilive has already exposure to marketing in the country in Germany. That is the second country as a number of stations. We thought this is a good opportunity to buy a second-tier brand that could be improved in us in terms of valorization, thanks to our clearly branding, possibility to add shopping and convenience stores and benefiting also of local logistics support from our Germany refinery participation. We have 2 participation in 2 plants in Germany. The contribution, this is an asset that is generating in the range of EUR 40 million, EUR 50 million for EBITDA. In terms of cash flow from operation improvement, cash flow from operation improvement is related to all the improvements that we mentioned during this conference, production growth, upstream production growth, cash flow per barrel related to that growth, opportunity and growth generated by GGP and Enilive benefit improvement that we mentioned through scenario and plan for availability. All these elements are contributor, the major contributor of the cash flow revised guidance. Jon Rigby: Thanks, Paul. We're going to now move to Nash at Barclays. Nash? Naisheng Cui: Two questions, please. The first one is on downstream. Both Enilive and Plenitude continue to improve profitability and outlook has improved, too, especially on Enilive. I wonder, does this change your view or your partners' strategic view over those business? And my second question is on upstream. You have a very busy upstream growth pipeline, 54 organic growth projects, as you mentioned. Could you talk about what Eni has done right to progress them in time and under budget? Are you worried about future CapEx cost inflation, please? Francesco Gattei: On the view about the Enilive and Plenitude, I think that this business confirm the model, the way we generate -- we created this business that are putting together renewable content and transition content plus retailer and therefore, marketing outcome. This reinforced the possibility to navigate through the cycles. You saw in this business, different cycles up and down because sometimes there are improvement, then there is a slowdown, et cetera. But through the combination of these 2 elements, we are able to manage in any case, this kind of trend. We have a strong balance sheet in each of them. So we have the possibility to use the generation of cash on one side of the retailer in order to supply the growth of the renewable side. And therefore, I think this is a confirmation that what we set up in the last 4, 5 years related to these 2 businesses and the partnership that recognize the value of that is effective and working. This also helped us to have a faster view towards a potential IPO that is the final goal for each of them. Guido Brusco: On our pipeline of projects, I mean a couple of things. First of all, we proved in the past, as Claudio said, that we've been able to manage a project within cost and within budget. And we've been able also to run multiple projects. Just to remind, last year, we've started up 5 major projects. So we demonstrated that we are able to handle quite a large number of projects. Because of our fast-track model, which is designed for that, is designed to run parallel activity, is designed also to have quite a high degree of on-hand features. We have an engineering company into the corporation, which is helpful in this kind of projects. As far as concerned, the inflation, you're right. I mean, the inflation, especially after -- the inflation was already in the region of 3% to 4%, 2026 to 2025. And after the Middle East conflicts, the range is becoming more 4% to 6% because of the, of course, cost of the fuel and the dislocation of the market. But to ensure cost discipline and schedule reliability across the project on top of this designed fast-track model. We have also an integrated procurement strategy, which allowed us to expand the supply chain into new frontier markets, strengthened strategic partnership through master framework agreement and also applying some refined tendering approach. Consider that most of the contracts for the projects we are talking about are already locked in before the crisis of the Middle East. Claudio Descalzi: I want to add something about what we say because we are in this situation today because strategically, we built the company in that way. When 15 years ago, everybody was outsourcing, we in-sourced. It was against the mainstream against the trendy situation of 20, 15 years ago, people would prefer to reduce risk going through M&A. But we decided to in-source. We decided that we decide to create an engineering company. We decided to be specialized in the exploration. And then we decide to be specialized in the development, became the main contractors and moving the different package. So when you talk about cost, to be able to contain cost, you must have the skills to control your activities. In each single step, if you are not able to control your activity, you can use the best model you want, you are not able to control your cost. If you build your project, you are able. If you build your company with this purpose, you are able to do that. And not only we demonstrated, but was our strategy. And when we present this kind of strategy more than 15, 16 years ago, people were surprised because we were not following the trend in exploration and everything. But that now I think that we are in the best position to not just find new exploration resources but be able to develop, be able to control our costs, be able to give the right guidance to our contractors. Jon Rigby: Thanks. I'm conscious I said we've closed at the top of the hour, but I'm going to take my contingency and go to 3:10. We may not get around to everybody is asking questions. So I apologize for that, and you can follow up later. We're now going to move to Henry Tarr at Berenberg. Henry? Henry Tarr: I have 2. One is you have several projects obviously underway currently in the UAE and in Qatar. Is there any indication of the impact so far of the Hormuz disruption on these projects, I guess sort of following on from the cost question. And then secondly, the sites in transformation, I guess, costs have been running at sort of EUR 50 million a quarter through the first half. Is that a sensible indication for the second half? Guido Brusco: On the first one, the answer is very short. There's no, no impact on the project. Most of the activity, the manpower and material were already in country and so it's progressing. And this is both in Qatar and of course, in UAE. Francesco Gattei: Yes. About the [ sites ] in transformation, this is already a flat trend, a steady quarterly trend that we -- instead, we expect them to decline in the next years because clearly, you reduce the amount of activity that had to be transformed. Jon Rigby: Thanks, Henry. I'm going to move now to Alastair Syme at Citigroup. Al? Alastair Syme: Can I just return to the question on Venezuela? I mean, can you give us some clue about what you're looking in terms of the ways of protecting your investment? I mean, clearly, there's a big potential, but there's also quite a big investment. So is it a service agreement or PSC? What sort of fiscal structure is it? And then I had a second question is actually on Fusion. I saw this quarter, you signed this Fusion fuels agreement in the U.K. Obviously, you've got CFS starting up in Boston next year. Can you talk about what you think the next couple of years in Fusion looks like? Should we be getting very excited about it? Claudio Descalzi: For Venezuela, I think that we already said before that, that is a different kind of contract. So it's more likely a PSC or something like that. But this kind of -- it's not about Junin-5 because Junin-5 is the main topic. So Perla, no problem, we can export. Corocoro is good, but it's good, can get a contribution, but it's more. But the big contributor, we talk about really a big contribution because it's almost 5 billion or 6 billion gross recoverable resources is coming from this field. This field is mainly a drilling because it's a shallow reservoir, 1,000 feet. So you can imagine what we do or what people do in the Lower 48 in Permian, so very fast drilling and then you recover. So you invest to recover. It's not really a standard upstream project where you have to invest for 4, 5 years or 3 years, what you want and then you start recovering. So you have a lot of inactive capital and big exposure. In this case, it's more operational -- operating -- sorry, operating spending. So that is really -- so the structure of the business is really give you a protection because it's a very fast recovery. Clearly, you have to invest, yes, you have to continue investing. The depletion rate is not the same or the Permian is much better. I mean, the drainage area is quite good. So also it's very heavy that continue to produce also for some time without a big depletion. But we are -- so the contract from one side is not in Prestamista. Clearly, we are not going to invest with the old contract. And from the other side, the kind of E&P project that protect you from exposure in your CapEx. Do you want to say something? No. Okay. So talking about Fusion, Lorenzo, that is our Director -- Head of our -- all the technological service R&D and is in charge of Fusion, maybe he can spend some more. Lorenzo Fiorillo: Yes. Thank you, Claudio. Just to give you -- provide you an update for CFS, the activity is going very well. We are at final stage of construction. We are physically assembling the machine. We are more than 75% of advancement. So we are very confident by next year, beginning of 2028, machine will be ready, and then we will start up the commissioning to reach the positive Q greater than 1, let's say. Concerning the activity in U.K., we have signed an agreement with the UKAEA, which is the nuclear agency. We are building a machine plant to treat tritium. We are in the range of the 30% advancement. And recently, like you correctly said, we create a private company called RH3OVA with the aim to commercialize these technologies and so to become also an opportunity for industrial corp. So activities are going very, very well in this direction. Jon Rigby: Thanks, Lorenzo. Thanks, Al. We're going to now move, and I think this will have to be the last question to -- and I apologize for those who are waiting. Maybe we can talk to you later. So this will be to Matt Lofting at JPMorgan. Matt? Matthew Lofting: Congratulations to you all on a very strong update this morning. I wanted to just ask you about Latin America as a portfolio hub. You talked about Venezuela earlier. But when you look at the continent as a whole, it looks like it's becoming increasingly important to the diversification strategy and growth profile that you'talked about over the last hour or so. So can you just expand there in terms of the extent to which that's becoming more significant to Eni as you look forward to 2030 plus and how you think about best structuring investments in that part of the world in order to optimize investment paybacks? Guido Brusco: Yes. As we already said also in the capital market update back in March, if you look at the production distribution at 2030, South America will play a significant role in our share of production, mainly from, of course, Argentina, Venezuela, but also Mexico. In Mexico, we are running at 95,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and we are the largest international producer. The 2 assets -- I mean, the asset in Venezuela, we have described already, Claudio gave some interesting features. On Argentina, we are talking of a world-class basin, 25 Tcf, 500 million of condensate, which makes 4.8 billion barrels of oil to be recovered. We have an estimated production at peak at around 550,000 barrels of oil equivalent, of which 200,000 liquids and the remaining is LNG for export. And this is the, I would say, the inventory of the reserves already discovered and to be developed. We are also expanding our exploration portfolio. We have acquired blocks in Uruguay, which is a very, I would say, promising basin. And soon, we will update you also on our plans in Uruguay. As far as the financial structure on Venezuela, Claudio already said, which will be our setup in Argentina. We are in partnership with YPF, the national oil company and XRG and this will be an incorporated venture, which will manage all the value chain from the upstream to the midstream up to the export. The export is on an equity-like basis from all the -- from at least to international shareholders. Claudio Descalzi: Thank you, Guido. Just to add something in perspective. We talk about energy race. So we really -- we have to increase production and find energy. And the situation is quite different with respect to what happened 10 years ago, 5 years ago only or maybe 10 years ago, we have Russia. We have all the Gulf. Now what was certain a few years ago now is no more certain. And we lost some country where we can go there and buy energy, Russia, okay? They produce. They still produce, but we are not now this or to Qatar or to other. In the future, we are going to have again and I hope so. But in any case, we need more energy. And the race to energy now is different because there is no country where you can go there and buy energy. You have to go there and explore. You have to go there and develop. You have to go there and put in production and then you can have your energy. So not just diversification. If you say that we need just diversification, you are superficial. You must have the skill to go there and find your resources and stay on the value chain. So that is very different paradigm. So the world is changing. It's more a question of buying stuff and sell stuff. We are not in the commercial or just trading. You must be in the industrial situation where you're able to explore, develop and produce. This is something going back to the basis, maybe yes, but that is the situation of today. Diversification is not enough. You must do the work from the beginning to the end if you want to win this energy race. Thank you very much. Jon Rigby: Thank you, Matt, for that question. I'm going to wrap the Q&A up right now. So again, apologies to those who weren't able to ask a question, do please follow up with the Investor Relations team. I'm going to say good luck for the rest of the reporting season, and please do enjoy a nice holiday period, and we look forward to seeing you in September. Bye. 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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. Eni (E) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Interested in Eni SpA? Here are five stocks we like better. ENI reported sharply stronger results: Second-quarter pro forma EBIT and net income both doubled year over year to €5.4 billion and €2.3 billion, respectively, while operating cash flow rose more than 60% to €4.5 billion. Production and guidance increased: First-half upstream production rose 8% reported, and ENI raised its 2026 production outlook to more than 5% above the top of its previous range, supported by projects in Libya, Mexico, Kazakhstan and elsewhere. Shareholder returns and business targets were lifted: ENI raised its 2026 buyback expectation to €3.4 billion, reduced expected net capital expenditures to below €5 billion, and increased guidance for Global Gas & LNG, Plenitude and Enilive. UnitedHealth Just Gave Wall Street a Clearer Turnaround Signal ENI (NYSE:E) reported sharply higher second-quarter and first-half results, citing upstream production growth, favorable market conditions and stronger contributions from its gas, low-carbon and refining-related businesses. Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said second-quarter pro forma EBIT reached €5.4 billion and net income totaled €2.3 billion, with both figures doubling from a year earlier. Cash flow from operations rose more than 60% to €4.5 billion. For the first half, pro forma EBIT increased 40% year over year. → This Tiny AI Supplier Could Be More Important Than the Chipmakers 3 Stocks Standing Out and 2 Losing Momentum as the Tech Rally Cracks Descalzi said the company’s performance outpaced the increase in Brent crude prices and absorbed what he described as a highly unfavorable foreign-exchange environment. Reported gearing was stable from the prior quarter, while pro forma gearing declined to 10%, the lower end of ENI’s target range. Reported upstream production increased 8% year over year in the first half, or 11% on an underlying basis, according to Descalzi. The company said it offset production losses in the Middle East through project execution and contributions from assets including Agogo in Angola, Amoca in Mexico and Congo LNG Phase Two. → Refiner Stocks Are Near Record Highs—Can Iran-Driven Margins Keep Them There? Oil Prices Are Surging and These 4 Stocks Are Cashing In ENI raised its 2026 underlying oil and gas production outlook to more than 5% above the upper end of its previous range. Chief Operating Officer Natural Resources Guido Brusco said the increase reflects stronger contributions from Libya, Mexico and Kazakhstan, as well as the earlier-than-expected consolidation of Searah. The company also reiterated an expected production growth rate of about 4% annually through 2030. Descalzi said ENI has 54 organic growth projects across at least 13 or 14 countries, with many already sanctioned, under development or advanced through planning stages. → Innovative ETF Strategies That Are Paying Off This Summer During the first half, ENI sanctioned Baleine Phase Three in Côte d’Ivoire, Geng North in Indonesia and Cronos in Cyprus. Descalzi said the company’s 2023 exploration program added more than 1 billion barrels of resources, supported by discoveries in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, Egypt and Indonesia. The Searah business combination, completed in June, created ENI’s largest satellite platform and established a larger position in the Pacific region, management said. Initial production exceeded 300,000 barrels per day, and the company sees a path toward approximately 800,000 barrels per day by 2030. Management highlighted Argentina and Venezuela as increasingly important components of the company’s upstream portfolio. ENI is finalizing negotiations for contracts covering the Junin 5 and Corocoro assets in Venezuela and has completed a gas export agreement for the Perla field. Descalzi said the Junin 5 project could be structured similarly to a production-sharing arrangement and could offer relatively rapid investment recovery because of its shallow reservoir and drilling-focused development. Brusco said ENI was prepared to mobilize drilling rigs after a contract is signed. In Argentina, ENI said its recently consolidated asset contains 25 trillion cubic feet of gas, 500 million barrels of condensate and total gross recoverable resources of about 4.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Brusco said production could peak at approximately 550,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, including liquids and LNG for export. The company is partnering with YPF and XRG in Argentina through an incorporated venture intended to manage the upstream, midstream and export value chain. ENI raised guidance across several businesses. Global Gas & LNG pro forma EBIT is now expected to exceed €1.4 billion, while Plenitude and Enilive’s combined full-year pro forma EBITDA target was increased to €2.6 billion from €2.4 billion. Descalzi said Global Gas & LNG generated €470 million of pro forma EBIT in the second quarter. He added that the second-half outlook could benefit from pricing conditions and inventory replenishment dynamics. Cristian Signoretto, director of Global Gas and LNG Portfolio, said Europe’s gas market remains “fairly fragile” because of geopolitical conditions and delayed storage replenishment, creating potential upside in volatility and prices. Enilive generated €375 million of adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter, according to Chief Executive Stefano Ballista. He said biorefining accounted for roughly 35% to 40% of the total and that asset utilization at Chalmette and Gela exceeded 90% during the quarter. ENI increased its adjusted cash flow from operations guidance to €15 billion under an $85-per-barrel Brent scenario. It expects gross capital expenditures of about €7 billion for the year and reduced expected net capital expenditures to below €5 billion. The company repurchased €600 million of shares during the quarter and now expects to buy back €3.4 billion of stock in 2026, compared with initial guidance of €1.5 billion. Descalzi said outstanding shares have been reduced by approximately 18% since 2021. Potential additional shareholder distributions would be assessed in October and paid during the fourth quarter, management said. Chief Transition and Financial Officer Francesco Gattei said an extra dividend could be triggered by full-year pricing conditions, including a Brent average of $90 per barrel, refining margins and European gas prices above specified thresholds. Gattei added that a higher-price environment could also support additional repurchases, with a potential ceiling of €4 billion. ENI also discussed its planned 50-50 trading joint venture with Mercuria. Brusco said the partnership would combine ENI’s industrial assets and supply portfolio with Mercuria’s trading capabilities. Management expects the venture to improve ENI’s long-term return on average capital employed by one to two percentage points. In refining, management said benchmark margins do not fully reflect ENI’s realized profitability because of higher freight and logistics costs, crude differentials and hedging effects. The company said its realized refining margin could be $2 to $3 per barrel below the nominal benchmark, although it expects strong refinery utilization in the third quarter following first-half turnaround work. Versalis’ chemical operations narrowed losses, with management attributing progress to restructuring efforts and temporary market tightness. A Versalis representative said the company expects transformation initiatives to generate about €280 million to €300 million of annual improvement, above its prior €250 million target. ENI S.p.A. is an integrated energy company headquartered in Rome, Italy, founded in 1953 as a state-established hydrocarbon entity and later transformed into a publicly traded multinational. The firm's activities span the full hydrocarbon value chain and extend into power generation and low‑carbon energy solutions. ENI maintains a long history in exploration and production, engineering and project development, and downstream operations that include refining, petrochemicals and retail fuel distribution. Core businesses include upstream exploration and production of oil and natural gas, midstream and liquefied natural gas (LNG) handling, and downstream refining and marketing of petroleum products and lubricants. 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 "ENI Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for July 2026.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: July 29, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Eni SpA (NYSE:E) reported a significant increase in net income and cash flow from operations, with net income doubling year-on-year. The company demonstrated strong operational execution and effective market opportunities, leading to a 40% year-on-year increase in pro forma EBIT. Eni SpA (NYSE:E) achieved an 8% year-on-year production growth, fully offsetting volume losses in the Middle East. The company has a diversified geographic presence, which has helped mitigate the impact of regional crises. Eni SpA (NYSE:E) continues to expand its low-carbon energy initiatives, aligning with global energy transition trends. The company faces extraordinary volatility due to geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Gulf region. There are ongoing challenges in the European natural gas market, with potential volatility in the second half of the year. Eni SpA (NYSE:E) is dealing with a $5 billion environmental fine in Kazakhstan, which is under arbitration. The refining margin indicator was down quarter-on-quarter, indicating challenges in capturing market opportunities. The chemical segment is still experiencing losses, despite narrowing losses this quarter. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with E. Is E fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: Can you provide some numbers about the production outlook for 2030 and any insights into the European natural gas market for the second half of the year? A: Claudio Desca, CEO: We have improved our guidance for 2026, increasing it to 5% growth, with contributions from countries like Libya, Mexico, and Kazakhstan. For the gas market, the scenario aligns with forward curves, but the situation is fragile due to geopolitical factors and European storage delays, which could lead to volatility and potential upside. Q: What are your thoughts on the new terms presented by the government for investment beyond 2027, particularly on the oil side? A: Claudio Desca, CEO: We are in open negotiations with the Venezuelan government and partners. We have signed a contract for gas export from the Perla field, which complements domestic production and allows for future investment. The terms are favorable for continued investment. Q: How do you plan to develop new projects without increasing spending, and what is the trend in chemical earnings? A: Claudio Desca, CEO: We are efficient in developing fields, respecting time and budget. We use a satellite model to consolidate growth and value components, allowing us to expand without burdening our balance sheet. Adriano, Head of Chemicals: Chemical earnings are improving, with transformation efforts yielding results. We expect continued improvement due to transformation and new platforms. Q: Can you provide an update on disposals, particularly in Indonesia and the scope of the agreement with A in the upstream? A: Francesco, Head of Strategy: We are in advanced stages for the Indonesia disposal and have completed several deals. We continue to maximize portfolio value through exploration, business development, and strategic disposals. Q: What would trigger an extraordinary dividend review in Q3, and is buyback still your preferred method of returning cash to shareholders? A: Francesco, CFO: The trigger for an extraordinary dividend is a full-year Brent scenario above $90, which we are currently meeting. If conditions persist, an extra dividend will be paid in Q4. Buybacks remain a preferred method, but we will adjust based on market conditions. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

RPC Inc. RES reported first-quarter 2026 results on May 7, before the opening bell. Following the announcement, the company’s stock price declined 5.7% to $6.92 per share. RES reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 3 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a penny by 200%. The bottom line declined 50% from the year-ago quarter’s level of 6 cents per share. Total quarterly revenues were $454.76 million, up 36.6% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $332.88 million. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $396 million by 14.84%. The better-than-expected earnings were driven by the contribution from Pintail, which was acquired during the second quarter of 2025, combined with increased earnings across pressure pumping, downhole tools and coiled tubing operations. The positives were partially offset by the higher cost of revenues, primarily due to the Pintail acquisition and increased expenses driven by higher customer activity. RPC, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | RPC, Inc. Quote Operating profit in the Technical Services segment totaled $15.98 million, higher than the year-ago quarter’s $14 million. The improvement was driven by increased activity in downhole tools. First-quarter 2026 results reflect Pintail’s operating performance. Lower prices and an unfavorable pressure-pumping job mix offset the positives. Operating profit in the Support Services segment amounted to $401 thousand, down from $2.66 million in the year-ago quarter. The segment was mainly affected by lower rental tool activity, driven by lower customer activity. The company’s total operating income in the quarter was $2.62 million compared with $12.39 million in the year-ago quarter. The average domestic rig count declined 6.8% year over year. The average oil price was $70.54 per barrel, down 1.9% year over year. The average natural gas price was $4.81 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), 16.2% higher than the $4.14 per Mcf recorded in the corresponding period of 2025. In the first quarter, the cost of revenues (excluding depreciation and amortization) increased to $355.58 million from $243.89 million in the prior-year period. Selling, general and administrative expenses amounted to $48.21 million, higher than the year-ago quarter’s $42.5 million. The figure also included acquisition-related employment costs. As of March 31, 2026, RES had cash and cash equivalents of $200.73 million. It had no outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility and maintained a debt-free balance sheet. Net cash provided by operating activities was $31.2 million, down from $39.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Capital expenditures were $32.1 million for the quarter. RPC currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the energy sector that have recently released their earnings are Equinor ASA EQNR, BP plc BP and Eni S.p.A. E. EQNR, BP and E currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Equinor reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.48, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01. As of March 31, 2026, EQNR reported $5.9 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, long-term debt and lease liabilities totaled $25 billion. BP reported first-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.24 per American Depositary Share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91 cents. As of March 31, 2026, BP reported $35.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, its long-term debt totaled $25.3 billion. Eni reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 81 cents per American Depository Receipt, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.13. As of March 31, 2026, E had a long-term debt of €21.7 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of €8.3 billion. 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 BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eni SpA (E) : Free Stock Analysis Report RPC, Inc. (RES) : Free Stock Analysis Report Equinor ASA (EQNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Venture Global Inc. VG recorded first-quarter 2026 earnings per share of 19 cents, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 13 cents by 46.2%. The bottom line improved 18.7% from the year-ago quarter’s 16 cents per share. Total quarterly revenues of $4.60 billion increased 59% from $2.89 billion in the year-ago quarter. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.17 billion by 9.5%. The strong quarterly results can be attributed to higher liquified natural gas (LNG) sales volumes at the Plaquemines Project as commissioning advanced, along with favorable interest rate swaps and reduced development expenses. Lower LNG sales prices, net of feed gas costs at the Calcasieu project and higher interest expenses partially offset the positives. Venture Global, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Venture Global, Inc. Quote Plaquemines continued to be the key earnings engine during the quarter as the asset advanced through commissioning. The Plaquemines segment generated revenues of $3.39 billion, while income from operations totaled $1.04 billion. Calcasieu segment revenues were $1.09 billion, and income from operations totaled $182 million. The Sales and Shipping segment generated revenues of $818 million and income from operations of $99 million. Income from operations totaled $1.15 billion compared with $1.08 billion in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $1.37 billion, up from the year-ago level of $1.35 billion, driven by higher LNG sales volumes, which helped offset pressure from lower LNG sales prices, net of feed gas costs. Net income attributable to common stockholders increased to $488 million from $396 million in the prior-year period. The company attributed the earnings improvement primarily to higher income from operations, along with favorable interest rate swaps and reduced development expense. The positives were partly offset by lower LNG sales prices, net of the cost of feed gas and higher interest expenses. Venture Global exported 130 cargoes in the first quarter, significantly higher than the 63 cargoes in the year-ago period. Total LNG volumes exported were 487.2 trillion British thermal units (TBtu), up from 233.6 TBtu in the year-ago quarter. The cost of sales in the quarter was $2.78 billion, up from the year-ago period’s $1.06 billion, reflecting a sharp increase in LNG volumes moving through the system. Operating and maintenance expenses were $270 million, higher than $252 million in the first quarter of 2025, while depreciation and amortization increased to $251 million from $216 million in the prior-year period. General and administrative expenses declined to $97 million from $105 million, and development expenses decreased to $46 million from $182 million. Total operating expenses were $3.45 billion, up from $1.81 billion in the March-end quarter of 2025. As of March 31, 2026, the company had $1.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash of $335 million and net long-term debt of $36.5 billion. Net cash from operating activities was $763 million, while capital expenditures were $3.18 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. VG increased full-year 2026 consolidated adjusted EBITDA guidance to $8.2 billion to $8.5 billion. The guidance assumes a fixed liquefaction fee range of $9.50-$10.50 per million British thermal units for remaining unsold cargoes in 2026. The company expects to export 147-154 cargoes from the Calcasieu Project and 347-369 cargoes from the Plaquemines Project during the year. Venture Global currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks from the energy sector that have recently released their earnings are Equinor ASA EQNR, BP plc BP and Eni S.p.A. E. EQNR, BP and E each currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Equinor reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.48, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01. As of March 31, 2026, EQNR reported $5.9 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, long-term debt and lease liabilities totaled $25 billion. BP reported first-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.24 per American Depositary Share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91 cents. As of March 31, 2026, BP reported $35.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, its long-term debt totaled $25.3 billion. Eni reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 81 cents per American Depository Receipt, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.13. As of March 31, 2026, E had a long-term debt of €21.7 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of €8.3 billion. 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 BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eni SpA (E) : Free Stock Analysis Report Venture Global, Inc. (VG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Equinor ASA (EQNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. PARR reported first-quarter 2026 results on May 5, 2026, after the closing bell. Following the announcement, the company’s share price declined 13% to $60.18 per share. PARR reported adjusted earnings of 78 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.05 by 25.7%. The bottom line improved from an adjusted loss of 94 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenues were $1.8 billion, up 4.5% from the year-ago figure of $1.7 million. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.9 billion by 5.3%. Management credited stronger market conditions and reliability across the system, while the lower-than-expected quarterly earnings were tied to margin realization dynamics rather than volumes. Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. Quote Segment revenues for the quarter were $1.8 billion in Refining, $76.8 million in Logistics and $133.1 million in Retail. In the year-ago quarter, the company recorded refining revenues of $1.7 billion, logistics revenues of $71.4 million and retail revenues of $136.4 million. The year-over-year revenue increase reflected stronger product pricing and higher refining volumes. Retail revenues declined due to softer fuel and merchandise trends, while Logistics improved on higher utilization across key assets. Adjusted EBITDA for the reported quarter was $91.5 million, a sharp increase from $10.1 million in the first quarter of 2025. PARR reported net income attributable to stockholders of $54.5 million, or $1.10 per share, against a net loss of $30.4 million or 57 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income attributable to stockholders was $38.5 million against an adjusted net loss of $50.3 million a year ago. The Refining segment produced operating income of $56.3 million against an operating loss of $24.7 million a year earlier. Refining adjusted EBITDA was $69.2 million, supported by higher benchmark indices and improved execution across the footprint. The Hawaii Index averaged $31.11 per barrel compared with $8.13 per barrel a year ago, while Hawaii feedstocks throughput increased to 89.8 thousand barrels per day (Mbpd) from 79.4 Mbpd. Hawaii refined product sales volume was 90.4 Mbpd, higher than the 88.6 Mbpd recorded in the first quarter of 2025. The Hawaii refinery’s adjusted gross margin was $13.10 per barrel compared with $8.90 per barrel a year ago. Hawaii’s first-quarter 2026 adjusted gross margin included a net price lag impact of approximately $125.5 million, which reduced the quarter’s adjusted gross margin. The Montana Index averaged $4.84 per barrel, lower than the $7.07 per barrel a year ago. Montana feedstock throughput increased to 56.9 Mbpd from 51.7 Mbpd in the prior-year quarter. Montana refined product sales volume was 50.7 Mbpd, higher than the 47.4 Mbpd recorded in the first quarter of 2025. The Montana refinery’s adjusted gross margin was $6.93 per barrel compared with $5.04 per barrel a year ago. The Washington Index averaged $8.20 per barrel, higher than the $4.15 per barrel a year ago. Washington feedstock throughput declined to 23 Mbpd from 38.6 Mbpd in the prior-year quarter. Washington refined product sales volume was 30.4 Mbpd, lower than the 36.5 Mbpd recorded in the first quarter of 2025. The Washington refinery’s adjusted gross margin increased to $8.17 per barrel from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $5.04 per barrel. The Wyoming Index averaged $19.30 per barrel compared with $20.31 per barrel a year ago, while Wyoming feedstock throughput increased to 14.6 Mbpd from 6.3 Mbpd. Wyoming refined product sales volume was 17.3 Mbpd, higher than the 12.1 Mbpd recorded in the first quarter of 2025. The Wyoming refinery’s adjusted gross margin was $26.79 per barrel, higher than $19.83 per barrel a year ago. The Retail segment generated operating income of $13.0 million, down from $16.0 million in the first quarter of 2025. Retail adjusted EBITDA was $15.5 million compared with $18.6 million a year ago, as fuel margins compressed amid rapidly rising wholesale prices during the quarter. Sales volume also declined. Retail fuel sales volume totaled 28.1 million gallons compared with 29.4 million gallons in the year-ago quarter. Same-store fuel volumes declined 3.3% and inside sales revenue decreased 1.0%, reflecting shifting consumer refueling patterns and the impact of flooding-related closures in Hawaii. Logistics continued to provide a steadier earnings contribution. Segment operating income increased to $24.5 million from $21.9 million a year ago, while Logistics adjusted EBITDA rose to $31.5 million from $29.7 million, driven by increased throughput activity across Wyoming, Hawaii and Montana. Net cash used in operations was $40.7 million, including working capital outflows of $184.8 million and deferred turnaround expenditures of $17.9 million. Excluding those items, net cash provided by operations was $162.0 million. As of March 31, 2026, the company reported $637.9 million in long-term debt, net of current maturities. Its cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $172.5 million and total liquidity was $937.7 million. Management emphasized an improving market setup entering the second quarter. On the earnings call, the company noted that April consolidated refining indices averaged $42 per barrel, up $23 per barrel compared with the first quarter, pointing to stronger distillate-led margins. Par Pacific expects second-quarter throughput to remain near first-quarter levels, with Hawaii projected to be in the range of 77-81 Mbpd due to a planned turnaround beginning in late June that is expected to last 30 to 45 days. The company expects Washington throughput to be in the range of 40-42 Mbpd. Driven by scheduled April maintenance across the Rockies system, PARR projects Wyoming quarterly throughput to be between 14Mbpd and 16 Mbpd, and Montana throughput in the range of 45Mbpd to 49 Mbpd, resulting in a system-wide midpoint of 182 Mbpd. Due to operational optimizations and inventory building, Renewables sales volumes and earnings are expected to remain modest in the second quarter, with significant growth expected in the second half of 2026 following the Hawaii turnaround. PARR currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks from the energy sector are Chevron Corporation CVX, Valero Energy Corporation VLO and Eni S.p.A. E. CVX, VLO and E each sport a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Chevron reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.41, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 92 cents. As of March 31, 2026, CVX reported $5.3 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, its total debt amounted to $45.4 billion. Valero reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of $4.22, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.07. As of March 31, 2026, VLO reported $5.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, its total debt amounted to $9.2 billion. Eni reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 81 cents per American Depository Receipt, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.13. As of March 31, 2026, E had a long-term debt of €21.7 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of €8.3 billion. 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 Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eni SpA (E) : Free Stock Analysis Report Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (PARR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Equinor ASA EQNR reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.48, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01 by 46.5%. The bottom line increased 124.2% from the year-ago quarter’s 66 cents. Total quarterly revenues of $27.8 billion declined 7% from $29.9 billion in the prior-year quarter. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $28.2 billion by 1.4%. The strong quarterly earnings can be primarily attributed to increased liquids and gas production across major Exploration & Production segments and higher liquid prices. Equinor ASA price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Equinor ASA Quote Exploration & Production Norway (E&P Norway) reported adjusted operating income of $7,696 million, up 3% from $7,453 million in the year-ago quarter. The improvement was driven by higher production and strong price realization in the quarter. Increased operating expenses offset the positives. The company’s average daily production of liquids and gas increased 10% to 1,525 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d) from 1,390 MBoe/d in the prior-year quarter. The year-over-year increase was driven by new fields, such as Johan Castberg, Halten East and Verdande, and additional wells coming into production. Adjusted operating income of Exploration & Production International (E&P International) was $616 million, up 16% from $531 million in the year-ago quarter. The segment was primarily affected by improved production volumes and higher liquids prices. The first-quarter results include the positive impact of an underlift timing effect and lower operating expenses. However, losses from the equity-accounted joint venture Adura partially offset the positives. The average daily equity production of liquids and gas increased 10% to 339 MBoe/d from 309 MBoe/d in the year-ago quarter. Production improved year over year due to the start-ups of Adura and Bacalhau in late 2025. However, positives were partially offset by the sale of the Peregrino interest, natural decline and operational issues at Roncador. Exploration & Production USA (E&P USA) of Equinor generated an adjusted operating income of $745 million from this segment. The figure increased 45% from $511 million in the first quarter of 2025. The segment was primarily aided by higher natural gas prices and increased gas and liquids production volumes. The integrated firm’s average equity production of liquids and gas was 449 MBoe/d, up 6% from 424 MBoe/d in the year-ago period. The increase was primarily driven by growth in gas production volumes from the Appalachia onshore assets and from new wells, which were brought to production. Marketing, Midstream & Processing (MMP) reported adjusted earnings of $787 million, a more-than-100% increase from $251 million a year ago. The segment benefited from stronger product and LPG trading margins, complemented by optimized gas operations in Europe and North America. Equinor began reporting Power as a separate segment starting in the first quarter. The Power segment centralizes all power activities, merging the previous Renewables portfolio, flexible assets from MMP and Danske Commodities’ trading operations. The segment’s adjusted operating result was close to break-even, helped by power trading, while total power generation was broadly stable year over year, even as renewables increased. Cash flow from operations after taxes paid was $6.02 billion, down from $7.39 billion a year ago, primarily due to higher tax payments in the quarter. Equinor ended the first quarter with net cash flow of $1.8 billion compared with $2.1 billion in the year-ago period. Organic capital expenditures amounted to $3 billion for the quarter, in line with the company’s annual spending framework. As of March 31, 2026, the company reported $5.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Its long-term debt and lease liabilities totaled $25 billion. Equinor kept its 2026 outlook intact, expecting oil and gas production to grow around 3% in 2026 compared with 2025 levels. Organic capital expenditures for the year are projected to be approximately $13 billion. Guidance remains unchanged despite a solid first quarter production, as management prepares for future turnarounds. The board approved a quarterly cash dividend of 39 cents per share and initiated a second tranche of the 2026 share buyback program of up to $375 million, consistent with the broader plan for up to $1.5 billion in buybacks this year. EQNR currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks from the energy sector are Chevron Corporation CVX, BP plc BP and Eni S.p.A. E. CVX, BP and E each currently sport a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Chevronr eported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.41, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 92 cents. As of March 31, 2026, CVX reported $5.3 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, its total debt amounted to $45.4 billion. BP reported first-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.24 per American Depositary Share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91 cents. As of March 31, 2026, BP reported $35.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, its long-term debt totaled $25.3 billion. Eni reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 81 cents per American Depository Receipt, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.13. As of March 31, 2026, E had a long-term debt of €21.7 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of €8.3 billion. 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 BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eni SpA (E) : Free Stock Analysis Report Equinor ASA (EQNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research