EQT Corp beats quarterly profit estimates on higher natgas prices, sales volumes

Feb 17 (Reuters) - U.S.-based energy company EQT Corp EQT.N beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter adjusted profit on Tuesday, benefiting from higher natural gas prices and sales volumes, sending its shares up over 1% in extended trading.

Power-hungry data centers and a surge in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports have been driving up sales for U.S. natural gas companies, pushing them to increase production to meet rising demand.

U.S. natural gas futures NGc1 rose more than 11% sequentially in the three months ended December 31, driven by higher demand and increased pipeline volumes, following two quarters of falling prices.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company now expects current-year production between 2,275 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) and 2,375 Bcfe.

Capital expenditure in 2026, meanwhile, is forecast between $2.07 billion and $2.21 billion.

The company plans to invest $580 million to $640 million in infrastructure-focused growth initiatives, including compression projects, water infrastructure, the Clarington Connector pipeline into Ohio and strategic leasing.

Average realized price for natural gas during the quarter was up 14.3% from a year earlier at $3.44 per thousand cubic feet equivalent (Mcfe).

Total quarterly sales volume rose to 608,994 million cubic feet equivalent (MMcfe) from 605,183 MMcfe a year ago. For the current quarter, the company forecast a total sales volume of 560 Bcfe to 610 Bcfe.

"Winter Storm Fern created extremely challenging weather conditions over the past several weeks, but seamless coordination between our midstream, upstream and gas marketing teams resulted in negligible impact to EQT's production," said CEO Toby Rice.

The company reported an adjusted profit of 90 cents per share for the fourth quarter, above analysts' average estimate of 74 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.