Sector Update: Energy Stocks Weakening Ahead of Tuesday Close

Oct 25, 202219:46 UTC

XLE

RRC

HAL

Energy stocks turned narrowly lower Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index sinking 0.2% while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF XLE declined by 0.3%. The Philadelphia Oil-Service Sector index was posting a 0.8% advance and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was adding 1.8%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled $0.74 higher at $85.32 per barrel while North Sea Brent crude was slipping $0.21 to $93.05 per barrel, reversing a modest midday advance. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose $0.41 to $5.61 per 1 million BTU.

In company news, QuantumScape QS climbed over 13% after the board of directors at the lithium-ion battery firm approved several revisions to the company bylaws that appear to make it harder for outsiders to force changes to the board or its actions. The new rules adopted on Oct. 20 allow the board or the chair to now postpone or reschedule a special meeting to require a majority vote by the board. It also revises the guidelines for nominating and voting on director candidates or considering shareholder proposals, according to a regulatory filing.

Range Resources RRC raced 7.9% higher after the oil and natural gas producer reported a non-GAAP Q3 net income of $1.37 per share, up from $0.52 per share during the same quarter last year, while revenue rose to $1.11 billion from $302.6 million during the year-ago period and beating the $1.06 billion analyst mean. The company also authorized a $1 billion increase to its stock buyback program.

Haliburton HAL was 0.5% higher, easing from an early 4.4% gain, after the oilfield services company Tuesday reported non-GAAP Q3 net income of $0.60 per share, more than doubling its $0.28 per share adjusted profit during the year-ago quarter and beating the Capital IQ consensus by $0.04 per share. Total revenue rose to $5.36 billion from $3.86 billion during the year-ago period, narrowly exceeding the $5.34 billion analyst mean.

Among decliners, NorthWestern NWE fell 1.9% after the electric and natural gas utility company reported non-GAAP Q3 net income of $0.42 per share, down from $0.65 per share during the same quarter last year and trailing the Capital IQ consensus expecting a $0.59 per share adjusted profit. The company also lowered the top end of its FY22 earnings forecast by $0.05 per share to a new range of $3.20 per share to $3.35 per share. The Street is at $3.29 per share.