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Occidental Petroleum OXY is expected to report a year-over-year decline in its top and bottom lines when it reports 2024 results on Feb. 18, after market close.
Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OXY’s fourth-quarter revenues is pegged at $7.14 billion, indicating a decline of 5.2% from the year-ago reported figure.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 67 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OXY’s fourth-quarter earnings indicates a decline of 9.46% from the year-ago reported figure.
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Earnings Surprise History
OXY’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 18.71%.
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What the Zacks Model Unveils
Our model predicts a likely earnings beat for OXY this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. That is the case here, as you can see below.
Occidental Petroleum Corporation Price and EPS Surprise
Occidental Petroleum Corporation price-eps-surprise | Occidental Petroleum Corporation Quote
You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Earnings ESP: OXY has an Earnings ESP of +3.00%.
Zacks Rank: Occidental Petroleum currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Some other stocks in the same sector that have the combination of factors indicating an earnings beat this season are Range Resources Corporation RRC, Comstock Resources, Inc. CRK and DT Midstream, Inc. DTM. RRC, CRK and DTM have an Earnings ESP of +4.28%, +12.50% and +0.28%, respectively, and currently carry a Zacks Rank of 2 each.
Factors Likely to Have Shaped OXY’s Q4 Earnings
Permian Resources assets remain a consistent contributor to the firm’s overall production. Production from Permian is expected in the range of 751-769 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mboe/d) for fourth-quarter 2024 and the company expects total production in the band of 1,430-1,470 Mboe/d in fourth-quarter 2024. Occidental Petroleum raised its fourth-quarter production volume by 9,000 boe/d due to the addition of high-quality CrownRock assets in its portfolio.
OXY’s fourth-quarter performance is also expected to have been positively impacted by its routine flaring reduction initiatives and introduction of innovative technologies, which will further lower operating expenses. Positive production trends in the Permian basin should more than offset the adverse impact to fourth quarter production related to the Gulf of Mexico's ongoing well workovers and disruption from Hurricane Rafael.
Occidental Petroleum is likely to have gained from its ongoing debt reduction. The company retired debts worth $4 billion in the third quarter, and more will be retired in the fourth quarter, strengthening its balance sheet and reducing its interest expenses, boosting earnings.
The company is also expanding its operations internationally. Production from the International operation is expected to be 228-234 Mboe/d in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Occidental Petroleum expects its lease operating expenses to register a greater than 20% year-over-year reduction per barrel in the fourth quarter. This improvement is driven by increased uptime, improved CO2 utilization, and the integration of low-cost, high-margin CrownRock barrels in OXY’s existing production portfolio.
Chemical segment is expected to have positively contributed in fourth-quarter due to expected uptick in caustic soda pricing due to European supply disruptions. The Midstream and Marketing segment is likely to have captured some natural gas transportation optimization benefits in the to-be-reported quarter, which all contributed toward fourth-quarter earnings.