Brokers Set Expectations for APA’s Q2 Earnings (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q2 2026 EPS estimates for APA in a report released on Wednesday, March 11th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the company will earn $0.44 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.50. Zacks Research has a “Hold” 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 Q4 2026 earnings at $0.46 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $2.64 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on APA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on APA from $22.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday. Citigroup raised their price target on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.92.

APA Trading Up 1.9%

APA opened at $33.61 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.70 and a 200 day moving average of $25.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. APA has a 12 month low of $13.58 and a 12 month high of $34.16. The firm has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.67.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business’s revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in APA by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,321,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,786,000 after buying an additional 1,291,706 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of APA by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,710,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,807,000 after acquiring an additional 285,542 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of APA by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864,900 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of APA by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 29.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,326 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $37 (now “Neutral”), boosting upside narrative and supporting today’s buying interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Capital One lifted its target to $32 and maintained an “Overweight” stance, signaling conviction from a buyside-focused shop. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: RBC and other outlets have raised targets and highlighted oil-strength/earnings momentum as fundamental support for APA shares, adding to the bullish analyst chorus. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several independent and sell-side pieces (Wolfe Research, Jefferies coverage summaries, and bullish writeups on Seeking Alpha) reinforce a narrative that APA may be undervalued given cash flow and dividend profile. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reports show effectively zero reported short volume (with anomalous NaN reporting), which appears to be reporting noise rather than a meaningful change in short positioning; not a clear market mover.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks trimmed Q2 and Q4 2026 EPS estimates (Q2 to $0.44, Q4 to $0.46) and lowered FY2028 forecasts — a direct negative to near-term earnings expectations that can cap upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs increased its target to $29 but kept a “Sell” rating, implying limited upside and contributing downside pressure from a prominent sell-side voice. Read More.

APA Company Profile

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.