Shares of Chesapeake Energy Corp. erased earlier sharp gains to head toward a fourth-straight loss, as disappointing production data offset a profit and revenue beat. The stock was up as much as 3.5% in the opening minute, after the oil and gas exploration company reported second-quarter results, then pulled back to be down as much as 2.6% a little after 10 a.m. ET, before bouncing slightly to be down 1.2% in afternoon trade. Volume was 43.7 million shares, above the full-day average of about 32.2 million shares, and enough to make the stock the third-most active on major U.S. exchanged. Raymond James analyst John Freeman pointed out that reported production of about 528,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day was below his forecast of 543,000 and the Wall Street consensus of 538,000. He also noted that production costs of $2.92 per BOE was above his estimate of $2.40 per BOE> Freeman reiterated his underperform rating, which has been in place since Jan. 4, 2016. The stock has plunged 35% year to date, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has lost 13.1% and the S&P 500 has gained 10.4%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News