Zacks Research Comments on APA’s Q3 Earnings (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research raised their Q3 2026 EPS estimates for shares of APA in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 6th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the company will earn $0.68 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.66. Zacks Research currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for APA’s current full-year earnings is $5.80 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for APA’s Q4 2026 earnings at $0.59 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $4.53 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.01 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.94 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.82 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.95 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $3.72 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $0.73 EPS, Q3 2028 earnings at $0.46 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.83 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp set a $46.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on APA from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Mizuho raised APA to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on APA in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on APA from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, APA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.14.

APA Stock Down 0.7%

APA opened at $43.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.93. The company has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.42. APA has a 1-year low of $21.63 and a 1-year high of $47.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%.The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional increased its stake in APA by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 167,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,966,000 after buying an additional 28,175 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of APA by 14.6% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 5,344 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of APA by 8.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 363,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,824,000 after acquiring an additional 28,474 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of APA by 1.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,181,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,159,000 after acquiring an additional 377,429 shares during the period. Finally, Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the second quarter worth about $5,800,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.14%.

APA announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting APA

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded APA from “Hold” to “Strong Buy” and raised its Q3 2026 EPS estimate to $0.68 from $0.66. It also increased its FY2026 estimate to $4.53 from $4.47 and FY2027 to $3.72 from $3.59. APA Stock Moved Up to Strong-Buy by Zacks Research
• Positive Sentiment: APA reported estimated Q3 realized oil prices of $87.50 per barrel in the United States and $98.50 internationally, plus a $190 million pretax net gain on oil and gas purchases and sales, including derivative gains. APA Q3 2026 Supplemental Information
• Positive Sentiment: The company repurchased 10.5 million shares during Q3 at an average price of $42.78, reducing its share count and potentially supporting per-share results. APA will discuss final quarterly results on Nov. 5. APA Supplemental Third-Quarter Information

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s activities include identifying prospective resources, drilling and completing wells, and managing producing assets across multiple international markets.

APA’s operations have historically been concentrated in the Permian Basin of the United States and in Egypt’s Western Desert, where it participates in exploration and production activities through joint ventures.