- Chesapeake Energy (CHK +20%) rallies to its strongest showing since April 2016 after easily beating Wall Street earnings expectations and guiding production higher, a surprise after the company's previous comments had indicated little change ahead for production.
- CHK's Q4 production rose to 593K boe/day, ahead of the analyst consensus forecast of 581K boe/day and 575K boe/day in the year-ago quarter, and the company says it expects to grow production this year by 1%-5%.
- While the projected 2018 growth rate is the same as last year, it would come off a planned capital budget ~12% lower than last year.
- CHK also says it expects new wells to be “a lot more economic” as it tests new well designs; as an example, CHK says the Haynesville Shale is “roaring back” as technological breakthroughs with longer laterals and improved completion designs have led the company to ~30% in production growth in the play since 2016.
- Now read: Chesapeake Energy: What Is Driving The Stock's Weak Performance?
Original article