Chord Energy third-quarter volumes top guidance, announces $550 million Marcellus sale

Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD) said in a press release and regulatory filing on Monday that its volumes for the third quarter of 2026 exceeded the high end of its guidance across oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, or NGLs.

Capital expenditures were in line with guidance, the company said.

The figures are preliminary. The company said its condensed consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended Sept. 30 are not yet available.

The company's independent auditor has not audited, reviewed or compiled the preliminary results.

The release does not give preliminary revenue or per-share earnings.

"The entire organization delivered another strong quarter of operational and financial performance," said President & Chief Executive Officer Michael Lou.

"Chord continues to be focused on disciplined capital allocation, operational efficiency, and attractive return of capital," Lou said.

West Texas Intermediate crude, or WTI, averaged $85.69 per barrel in the quarter, and Henry Hub natural gas averaged $2.96 per million British thermal units, or MMBtu, the release said.

The company had a loss of $48.7 million on realized hedges in the quarter.

Chord repurchased $205 million of its stock in the third quarter at an average price of $135.74 per share.

It bought another $44.3 million of stock in the fourth quarter so far, at an average of $142.32 per share.

On Sept. 30, the company had $804.7 million of cash and cash equivalents and $1,482.2 million of total debt.

The release defines adjusted free cash flow as adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, less cash interest and capital expenditures, excluding capitalized interest and acquisition capital.

The text of the release does not state a dollar amount for adjusted free cash flow.

Preliminary third-quarter capital spending includes about $4.5 million of reimbursable non-operated capital spending.

Marcellus-related capital spending was about $6 million higher than the company had anticipated.

Together, those two items would reduce preliminary capital spending by about $10.5 million, the company said.

Chord also announced a divestiture of its non-operated Marcellus assets for total gross consideration of $550 million.

The company paid a $55 million deposit in the third quarter. The release does not name the buyer or say when the sale is expected to close.

In a separate regulatory filing, the company said President & Chief Executive Officer Daniel Brown resigned from that post and from the board, effective Oct. 19, to pursue another professional opportunity.

Brown notified the company of his decision on Oct. 16. He resigned without Good Reason under the company's Executive Severance Plan, so he will receive no severance-related payments or benefits, the filing said.

Brown's resignation was not the result of any disagreement with the company on operations, policies or practices.

The board named Michael Lou, 52, as president and chief executive officer effective Oct. 19, and appointed him a director to fill the seat Brown vacated.

Lou was previously executive vice president, chief strategy officer and chief commercial officer from March 2024 through October 2026. Before that, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer from July 2022 to March 2024.

"Michael has been an instrumental member of the Chord leadership team and a key driver of our success," said Susan Cunningham, Chair of the Chord Energy Board of Directors.

Lou will not serve on any board committees for now. The company has not entered into any compensation arrangement with him tied to the appointment, and it intends to file an amendment with those details once they are determined.

The company said its actual results could differ from the preliminary figures, and any differences could be material.