Pioneer Natural Res (PXD) Q1 Results - Apr 27

[dan_s]

Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD, $222.48, Buy; Target $290.00) -
Delivers solid quarter and announces retirement of CEO -
from Derrick Whitfield at Stifel
We view this release as positive. The positives include: i) a total equivalent and oil production
beat (1.1% and 0.9% above consensus, respectively), ii) a strong adjusted EBITDAX
beat (5.1% above consensus) driven by higher than expected gas realizations and
lower than expected production costs, iii) a ~14% increase to the base dividend and a
new $4.0B share authorization (representing 7.4% of its current market cap), iv) better
than expected Q223 total equivalent and oil volume guidance, and v) a compelling 5-
year FCF outlook. The negatives include i) higher than expected capex (1.3% above
consensus), albeit FY23 capex was reiterated, and ii) the announced retirement of Mr.
Scott Sheffield (CEO). While the quarter and outlook was positive, we suspect that the
announced retirement of the CEO likely dampens investor expectations of a potential
transaction that was rumored earlier this month and is driving the underperformance
after hours (down 2.5%).

[dan_s]

From OilPrice.com
"Pioneer CEO Retirement Rekindles Exxon Takeover Talk. Scott Sheffield, the long-time CEO of US shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) announced he would retire at the end of this year, fuelling speculation that ExxonMobil’s (NYSE:XOM) reported $52 billion takeover might be much closer than thought."

[dan_s]

I have updated my forecast/valuation model for PXD and posted it to the EPG website.

My valuation is now $260/share, which compares to TipRanks' average Price Target of $256.