Out Fox The $treet

  Occidental Petroleum reported weak Q2'23 numbers with a big EPS miss. OXY stock has been propped up by Warren Buffett aggressively buying shares over the last year at elevated prices. Occidental Petroleum trades at over 20x normalized EPS targets and should be avoided. After the close,  Occidental Petroleum Corporation  ( NYSE: OXY ) reported disappointing  Q2 2023 results . As long predicted, analysts weren't accurately predicting the return to lower earnings based on historical energy prices. My  investment thesis  remains  Bearish on OXY stock, still trading over $60 due to the Warren Buffett put. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details . 

Cheniere Energy votes to replace the founding the CEO after Carl Icahn upped his stake last week. The exact same scenario played out on another Icahn position that hasn't rewarded shareholders. The recommendation is for investors to pay attention to the industry problems and not the executive shuffle.  Over the weekend, Cheniere Energy (NYSEMKT: LNG ) replaced founding CEO and Chairman Charif Souki. The move follows the path of another Carl Icahn position that hasn't worked out very well this year. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary Cheniere Energy continues lining up new projects before getting the primary Sabine Pass LNG export project into production. The company is continuing to build up debt levels. The competitive landscape in the LNG export market continues heating up as the Gorgon LNG project faces issues with selling test gas. Cheniere Energy's execution risks continue adding up until the company gets major projects into production.     As alluded to in Cheniere Energy: Paying Up For Unfinished Projects , the company is in the midst of a major building boom. The scale of the proposed projects are almost unprecedented considering the company has limited production facilities and proven results. What Cheniere Energy (NYSEMKT: LNG ) does have is ideal assets for building LNG export facilities and a first-mover advantage in getting FERC approval for exporting a precious resource that originally faced concerns that the government woul...

Summary The news that Iran might dump oil on the market is bearish for the price of the commodity. ConocoPhillips has a plan that requires much higher oil prices to cover the dividend with cash flow. The stock appears propped up by a dividend that isn't supported by cash flows.    Due to a confluence of issues, oil prices plunged on July 6. The massive 7.7% drop in WTI left the benchmark at roughly $52.50 per bbl before a further drop mid-day on Tuesday. While Greece and China are short-term concerns, the biggest issue to the oil markets long term is Iran.  Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.   Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.

Westport Innovations has a history of large losses and heavy spending on research and development. The company changed directions towards the end of 2014 with a stronger focus on financial discipline. The stock is investable for the first time in years though still extremely risky. It has been almost a year now since our last full coverage on Westport Innovations (NASDAQ: WPRT ) warned investors that the stock wasn't investable until it had turned around the financials. The unquestioned leader in natural gas engines hadn't figured out how to turn a technological advantage in the growing sector into a profitable business. At the time, the stock was down to roughly $15 from a previous high of $50, but investors were in for further turmoil. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary More evidence of a slow shift to natural gas as a transportation fuel for trucks. WSJ uncovered some unexpected roadblocks to the switch to natural gas. Clean Energy Fuels continues to face an uphill climb. The shift to natural gas fueled trucks has taken a lot longer than most expected causing the stock of Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE ) to become a hotly debated topic. The sector soared to highs back in early 2012, but it eventually plunged to new lows when the market forecasts for growth were never met. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

In the middle of another strong earnings report highlighted by explosive Marcellus growth, Southwestern Energy ( NYSE: SWN     ) detailed a troubling problem for the company and the industry as a whole. The company is a leading driller for natural gas in both the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas and the prolific Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The amount of long-term growth forecasted by Antero Resources Corporation ( NYSE: AR     ) is almost unheard of outside of social media stocks, especially for a company with a greater than $15 billion market cap. The Marcellus and Utica Shale natural gas exploration and production firm is probably mostly unknown by investors after going public last October. Despite production growth rates of over 100% and heading toward nearly 950 MMcfe/d during 2014, the company continues to forecast growth rates in excess of 50% in both 2015 and 2016. At this point, Antero appears to be overcoming the infrastructure bottlenecks that have disturbed Marcellus production by Cabot Oil & Gas ( NYSE: COG     ) and Utica growth at Gulfport Energy Corp ( NASDAQ: GPOR     ). The biggest question is whether the growth at Antero can be maintained as guided. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page fo...

Summary Operational improvements aren't hitting the bottom line. Analysts appear more negative despite the stock jump. Westport remains a technology leader in natural gas engines, but shareholders may not profit. It's really shocking to see Westport Innovations ( WPRT ) surge 24% on the day following earnings to only find out that analysts have actually cut estimates for the current and next fiscal years. Sure, the stock was beaten down so some bounce back is possible based solely on first-quarter results being better than feared, but the trend isn't so encouraging. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

With natural gas inventories close to decade lows, investors would probably prefer an exploration and production firm with limited hedges to participate in the potential price appreciation of the commodity. It is a double-edged sword to risk production and long-term capital investments without knowing the future price, but in the current market it's undoubtedly disappointing to invest in a firm with extensive hedges at lower prices. Range Resources Corp ( NYSE: RRC     ) is one of the largest and fastest-growing producers in the Marcellus Shale. The company has some of the most prolific wells helping it produce growth in excess of 20%. Unfortunately, the company is heavily hedged and not fully participating in the suddenly higher natural gas prices. It also will not benefit in a meaningful way in future price spikes over the next couple of years. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more d...

Despite prolific Marcellus shale wells detailed in the fourth-quarter earnings review, Cabot Oil & Gas ( NYSE: COG     ) made a recent decision to expand drilling assets in the Eagle Ford. The company continues to face infrastructure and price realization issues in the Marcellus that are impacting short-term investment decisions. In six short years, the company has already reached total production in the Marcellus shale of 1 trillion cubic feet on only 290 wells. Even more interesting, the company has 51 wells in various stages of reaching production, including waiting on pipelines and completions. Based on that data and recent Eagle Ford drilling results, maybe investors shouldn't be surprised by the move to add a rig and capital spending to oil production in that area. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Since its spinoff from Williams Companies ( NYSE: WMB     ) , WPX Energy ( NYSE: WPX     ) has struggled with low natural gas prices and weak production numbers. Surprising to some in the market, the company reported a large first-quarter profit that smashed low estimates even though the company didn't achieve any surprise production numbers. In fact, the production numbers beat forecasts while still showing year-over-year and sequential declines. The results for WPX Energy were solid based on factors beyond the company's control and show how the market is bigger than any management team. Despite the shift of capital spending to oil, WPX Energy still obtains nearly 80% of production from natural gas. Along with a company like Chesapeake Energy ( NYSE: CHK     ) , higher natural gas prices will solve most of the ailments that these companies have faced in the last couple of years. Read the full article here . Disclo...

n a market constantly claimed to be overvalued, the major oil exploration and production firms provide attractive valuations. Not only are global energy prices at highs, with Brent crude hovering near $110, but several catalysts also exist to keep prices high going forward. Chevron ( NYSE: CVX     ) is a prime example of a strong E&P firm with a solid dividend and numerous large-scale projects ready to usher in growth. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The recent data points from the CEO of Cheniere Energy ( NYSEMKT: LNG     ) should catch the attention of all investors interested in the natural gas revolution ongoing in the U.S. For those not familiar with Cheniere Energy, the company is working toward exporting liquefied natural gas, or LNG, at the Sabine Pass Terminal in La. and the Corpus Christi Terminal in Tx. With Cheniere nearly doubling over the past year, one of the best ways to play the export boom are natural gas producers in the Haynesville shale in La. One such producer is Comstock Resources ( NYSE: CRK     ) , and naturally the largest landholder in that area is Chesapeake Energy ( NYSE: CHK     ). Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the full disclaimer page for more details. 

Consol Energy ( NYSE: CNX     ) released first quarter updates for the gas operations and coal mines that sent coal stocks soaring. No surprise that the Marcellus producer saw strong growth in the gas operations, but the market sent the coal sector higher with the forecast for higher coal production for the year. Consol Energy was traditionally a coal miner that is quickly shifting toward a natural gas focus with the fast growth in Marcellus Shale production. The news comes on an interesting day, with James River Coal Co.  filing for bankruptcy at the same time. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The past couple of years there has been focus on increasing natural gas supplies, but most ignore surging demand that isn't being met with higher drilling. With natural gas inventories plunging to 11-year lows last week, the market needs to start including the demand side in the equation. One of the best examples of the increase in demand is the recent facility built by Nucor  ( NYSE: NUE     ) in La. The biggest mistake most make is assuming that abundant supplies in the ground will turn into production by E&P companies. The ironic part of the equation is that producers have left natural gas areas of the Haynesville Shale, (and other surrounding plays), while industrial and chemical plants are moving into the Gulf Coast. Read the full article  here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read disclaimer page for more details.

With a high debt load, it is understandable that Chesapeake Energy ( NYSE: CHK     ) is cutting back on spending and spinning off some of its assets. Unfortunately, the combination doesn't necessarily portend well for a separated subsidiary that depends on the previous parent for a substantial portion of its revenue. Chesapeake Energy spent the last several years struggling with a superior asset base of leading acreage positions in most of the primary shale areas. The company's stock continues to struggle due to expenses and the high debt load that is now causing it to cut capital spending at a time of low natural gas inventories. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long CHES. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The recent IPO of Rice Energy ( NYSE: RICE     ) brought investors an exploration and production firm with substantial growth in the Marcellus shale. With all of the hype recently on cloud software and biotech stocks, the company hasn't gotten the deserved attention. Rice Energy is a unique energy firm that claims to be the first of the shale generation with the youngest management team in the industry. The company has a highly concentrated acreage position in the core areas of the Marcellus and Utica. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long ANR. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Several trends are colliding to make 2014 likely a lucrative one for investors in domestic oil services firms. First, natural gas inventories have plunged 40% below five-year averages. Second, domestic drilling rig counts are starting to move up. Third, there has been a pullback in deepwater capital budgets despite high oil prices. All of these scenarios set up the need for increasing domestic drilling budgets, at least short-term. Despite the bullish trends and the bull market in stocks, a lot of the domestic oil service stocks trade below levels of the 2011 peaks. The firms of intrigue include: C&J Energy Services ( NYSE: CJES     ), Baker Hughes ( NYSE: BHI     ), and even lowly Key Energy Services ( NYSE: KEG     ). Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long CJES. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

In what has become a quarterly tradition, Clean Energy ( CLNE ) reported Q413 results that generally disappointed the market. With the promise of the new Cummins ( CMI ) - Westport ( WPRT ) 12-liter engine opening up the long haul, heavy-duty truck markets, investors had long expected an earnings call by early 2014 to contain some outlandish growth figures and expectations. Instead, the company delivered more promises of a developing market while providing little actual results. Along with Westport Innovations, Clean Energy offers investors potential huge returns from developing natural gas as a transportation fuel in the refuse, airport, and trucking industries, yet the end results are continued losses. At the same time, Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) has greatly revolutionized the electric car market, pushing the stock to the stratosphere. Ironically, more issues exist with a electrical vehicle that still uses a coal based power generation system and limited charging option...