Murphy Oil Misses Q2 Revenue Expectations

Murphy Oil Corporation posted solid results for Q2 2024, with its adjusted net earnings coming in at $0.81 per share, beating analysts’ estimates and beating the year-ago figure of $0.79 per share.

However, its revenue for the quarter was $802.7 million — slightly below expectations and 1.5% below the same period last year. The company produced 180,579 barrels of oil equivalent per day (bopd), which was near the top of the projected range but below the 184,250 barrels per day produced in the second quarter of last year. Notably, 50% of the company’s output in Q2 2024 was oil.

On the cost side, Murphy Oil reduced total expenses by nearly 5% year-over-year to $618.4 million. This cost control, combined with a 29.7% reduction in net interest, shows the company’s commitment to reduce its debt burden by $50 million in Q2 and is on track to achieve its goal of reducing debt by 300 million by the end of 2024. The long-term goal remains to reduce total debt by $1 billion, a target that strengthens the company’s financial position.

Murphy continues to reward its shareholders through aggressive share buybacks. In Q2 alone, the company repurchased $56 million worth of stock — 1.4 million shares at an average of $41.03 per share — and increased its share repurchase authorization by $500 million . As of early August, Murphy had repurchased $150 million in shares due 2024, with $800 million still authorized for future repurchases.

Murphy’s long-term debt totaled $1.27 billion as of June 30, 2024, compared with $1.32 billion at the end of last year.

Murphy expects third-quarter production to be between 181,500-189,500 boepd and remains committed to effectively managing its capital expenditures in the range of $920 million to $1.02 billion for the year.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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