How Did Cabot Oil and Gas Perform after 1Q16 Earnings?
How Did Cabot Oil and Gas Perform in 1Q16?
Cabot Oil and Gas’s stock performance
Following Cabot Oil and Gas’s (COG) 1Q16 earnings release, its stock fell ~0.7% on April 29. COG’s stock has fallen ~29% year-over-year. In the following graph, we analyze COG’s stock performance with respect to movements in the broader industry and the broader market.
COG’s peers like Chesapeake Energy (CHK), QEP Resources (QEP), and Gulfport Energy (GPOR) have also taken a hit due to weak commodity prices. CHK has fallen ~60% year-over-year, QEP has fallen ~18.6%, and GPOR has fallen ~64.3%. Together, these companies make up ~8.3% of the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP).
In the graph above, you can see that COG’s performance has been driven mainly by natural gas prices and WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil prices. These prices have also been major drivers behind the broader energy industry and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE).
From April 18 to May 2, COG’s stock underperformed the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE). COG’s stock rose ~3.6% during this period while XLE rose 4.4%. However, COG’s stock outperformed the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which mostly remained flat during this period.
On April 29, after COG released its 1Q16 earnings, its stock ended up slightly lower despite a 5% increase in natural gas prices compared to the previous close. This shows that the market’s reaction to COG’s earnings wasn’t necessarily positive. Read Part 1 of this series to learn more about COG’s 1Q16 performance. However, COG’s stock rose 3.6% the next trading day (May 2) despite a 6% drop in natural gas prices.
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