Houston, Texas-based APA Corporation (APA) operates as an independent energy company. It explores and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. With a market cap of $8.1 billion, APA’s oil and gas operations span the United States, Egypt, North Sea, and Suriname.
APA has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. APA stock has plummeted 32.4% over 52 weeks and over 5% on a YTD basis, lagging behind the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 22.7% surge over the past year and 2.7% gain in 2025.
Narrowing the focus, APA has also underperformed the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF’s (XOP) 1.8% drop over the past year and 1.4% gains in 2025.
APA’s underperformance stems from the lower commodity prices and higher costs impacting the company’s financials.
APA’s stock prices plunged 11.3% in the trading session after the release of its disappointing Q3 results on Nov. 7. Driven by higher production volumes the company’s total revenues surged 9.7% year-over-year to $2.5 billion which surpassed the Street’s expectations, however due to lower pricing, APA’s adjusted EPS dropped 24.8% year-over-year to $1 which missed analysts’ estimates by 2.9%. Furthermore, observing the softer oil price outlook the company reduced its fiscal 2025 capital forecast which unsettled investor confidence.
APA is set to unveil its fiscal 2024 earnings later this month, analysts expect APA to report an 11% year-over-year drop in adjusted EPS to $4.03. The company has a mixed earnings surprise history. While it has missed the Street’s bottom-line estimates thrice over the past four quarters, it has surpassed the expectations on one other occasion.
Among the 26 analysts covering the APA stock, the consensus rating is a “Hold.” That’s based on seven “Strong Buy” ratings, 15 “Hold,” one “Moderate Sell,” and three “Strong Sell.”
This configuration is slightly bearish compared to two months ago when eight analysts gave “Strong Buy” ratings.
On Jan. 31, Raymond James analyst John Freeman reiterated a “Strong Buy” rating while raising the price target to $45, indicating a staggering 105.2% upside potential from current price levels.
Meanwhile, APA’s mean price target of $29.73 represents a 35.6% premium to current price levels.
