Scotiabank Has Negative Outlook for APA FY2026 Earnings

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) – Stock analysts at Scotiabank dropped their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of APA in a research note issued on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank analyst P. Cheng now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $1.05 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $1.15. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for APA’s current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for APA’s FY2027 earnings at $1.65 EPS.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. APA had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 15.49%.The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. APA’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on APA from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on APA from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Johnson Rice raised APA from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of APA from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.30.

APA Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:APA opened at $25.80 on Monday. APA has a twelve month low of $13.58 and a twelve month high of $27.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.13. The company has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.74.

APA Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of APA

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

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.