Diamondback Energy Q3 2026 earnings: very strong

Diamondback Energy, the Texas oil and gas producer, sold much more in the third quarter of 2026 than a year earlier, helped by a far higher oil price and more output. Profit rose faster than sales, and the company again raised what it expects to produce this year. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Diamondback's own adjusted earnings per share were $5.86, and its reported figure $5.69, both above the $4.92 analysts expected on average (Nasdaq's earnings calendar). ¹²

The strong points

Profit for shareholders rose 57.5% from a year earlier to $1,603 million, even after a loss on hedging contracts held it back. ¹
Total sales rose 38.4% from a year earlier to $5,431 million, from both higher prices and higher output. ¹
About $2.1 billion of free cash flow, the cash left after running the business and investing in it, was left in the quarter. ¹

The weak points

Money owed by customers rose by $476 million, so part of the quarter's profit had not yet arrived as cash. ¹
Spending on drilling and completing wells rose about a third from a year earlier to $1.0 billion. ¹
The average oil price slipped 9.8% from the quarter before, even though it was far higher than a year ago. ¹

What the company expects

Diamondback now expects total output of about 1,015 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day this year, raised from 1,000 or more three months ago. ¹
Its forecast for oil output this year was raised to about 524 thousand barrels a day, from 522 or more. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A very strong report. Diamondback raised its production forecasts for the year again and earned well above what analysts expected, on sales and profit that grew strongly from a year ago, though it also expects to spend slightly more on wells to get there.

The results as published

Notes

Diamondback Energy's results release, 2 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 2 November 2026. ↩

Diamondback Energy earnings: third quarter 2026