Zacks Research Weighs in on APA’s Q1 Earnings (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for APA in a report issued on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the company will earn $0.55 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.52. Zacks Research has a “Strong Sell” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for APA’s current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for APA’s Q2 2027 earnings at $0.54 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.48 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.12 EPS.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. APA had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 15.49%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on APA. UBS Group lifted their target price on APA from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays set a $24.00 target price on APA in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of APA from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.30.

APA Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of APA stock opened at $25.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. APA has a twelve month low of $13.58 and a twelve month high of $27.72. The stock has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.09.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APA. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in APA by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 76.8% during the fourth quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 25,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 11,292 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in APA by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 106,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,614,000 after acquiring an additional 12,038 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in APA by 192.2% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 80,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 53,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 95.4% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 9,213 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting APA

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several near-term EPS forecasts for APA (Q1–Q4 2027 and FY2027 estimates were nudged higher), which can be read as modestly constructive on forward earnings expectations. (Zacks research notes)
• Positive Sentiment: The Goldman Sachs price target was increased to $23 from $21 (rating: sell), a small upward reframe of fair value that could limit downside. Goldman Sachs raises PT to $23
• Positive Sentiment: AmericanBankingNews reported an analyst-implied price-target increase to $22, another incremental supportive datapoint. Price Target Raised to $22
• Neutral Sentiment: Local community event — APA’s “Paws & Pins” fundraiser scheduled for Feb. 20 — is PR/CSR positive but unlikely to move the stock materially. Paws & Pins fundraiser
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary piece outlines how fresh analyst targets are reframing APA’s fair value; useful context for investors but not a direct market mover. Why APA story is shifting
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target to $25 (maintained neutral), and that move was reported alongside an intraday share drop — a clear near-term headwind for the stock. JPMorgan lowers PT to $25
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded APA to an Underweight/“downgrade,” which increases sell-side pressure and may keep the stock capped until clearer operational/commodity signals emerge. Barclays downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks moved the stock from Hold to Strong Sell even while nudging some short-term EPS estimates; the retained negative rating undercuts the constructive EPS revisions. Zacks rating change

About APA

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.