EQT Corp beats quarterly profit estimates on higher natgas prices, sales volumes

EQT Corp, a U.S. energy company, beat Wall Street 'estimates' for its fourth-quarter adjusted profits?on Tuesday. It benefited from higher natural gas prices and increased sales volumes. This sent the shares of EQT Corp up more than 1% during extended trading.

The demand for liquefied gas (LNG), driven by data centers that are power-hungry, has pushed U.S. gas companies to increase their production.

U.S. Natural Gas Futures rose by more than 11% in the third quarter of 2012, driven by increased demand and increased pipeline volumes. This follows two consecutive quarters with falling prices.

Pittsburgh-based company expects to produce between 2,275 and 2,375 billion cubic feet equivalents (Bcfe).

Capital expenditure for 2026 is expected to range between $2,07 billion and $2,21 billion.

The company plans to invest $580 million to $640 million in infrastructure-focused growth initiatives, including compression projects, water infrastructure, the Clarington Connector pipeline into Ohio and strategic leasing.

The average realized price of natural gas for the third quarter increased 14.3% compared to a year earlier, reaching $3.44 per 1,000 cubic feet equivalent.

The total quarterly sales volume increased to 608,994 MMcfe from 605,183 MMcfe one year earlier. The company has forecast a total sales volume between 560 Bcfe and 610 Bcfe for the current quarter.

Toby Rice, CEO of EQT, said: "Winter storm Fern created extreme weather conditions in the past few weeks. However, seamless coordination among our?midstream-upstream and gas marketing team resulted a negligible effect on EQT's output."

According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the company reported an adjusted 'profit' of 90 cents per share for its fourth quarter. This was above the analysts average of 74 cents. Reporting by Pooja in Bengaluru, editing by Jonathan Ananda

(source: Reuters)