Cheniere increases buyback plan above $10 billion due to strong LNG demand

Cheniere Energy reported that its fourth-quarter profits more than doubled due to a?strong demand for liquefied gas (LNG). The company also raised its share repurchase goal from $10 billion until?2030.

The largest LNG producer in the United States, the shares of this company are up 1.2% at $223. In premarket trading, shares of the largest?LNG producer in the?U.S. were up about 1.2% to $223.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. was the largest LNG exporter in the world last year. It shipped 15 billion cubic foot per day (bcfpd), an increase of 26% from 2024.

After President Donald Trump took office in January of last year, he lifted the moratorium on new LNG Export Permits.

Cheniere Corpus 'Christi Stage 3, an export facility located in South Texas was 94.1% completed as of December 31.

The company completed Train '4 in late December.

The project will add 10 million metric tonnes per annum of LNG to Cheniere’s 15 mtpa production capacity at the Corpus Christi Export Facility.

Separately the LNG producer announced that it would supply 1.2 million tonnes of LNG per year (mtpa), to Taiwan's CPC, from 2026 until 2050.

Strong Quarter

The company reported a net income of $2.3 billion, or $10.68 a share for the quarter ending December 31, compared to $977 million?or only $4.33?per share?a year ago.

The quarter-over-quarter increase in LNG revenue was 24.5%, to $5.31 Billion, while the number of exported cargoes increased by about 11%, at 185.

The company's revised buyback plan includes a $9 billion boost to its existing authorization. This included $1 billion in the fourth quarter.

LSEG data shows that Cheniere's core profit for 2026 is expected to be between $6.75 and $7.25 Billion, which is below Wall Street expectations of $7.27 Billion. (Reporting from Tanay Dhumal, Bengaluru. Editing by Sriraj Kulluvila.)

(source: Reuters)