Moody’s Turns Comstock Resources Outlook Positive After $1.65 Billion Asset Deal

Key Facts

Moody’s changed its outlook on Comstock Resources to positive from stable on November 11 and affirmed the company’s corporate family rating at B2 and its senior unsecured rating at B3. The shift is tied to the company’s plan to reduce debt after agreeing to sell assets to SOCAR. Comstock intends to direct the vast majority of the cash proceeds to debt repayment, according to Investing.com, citing the agency and the company. Moody’s said the deal is expected to cut the company’s leverage roughly in half. The report concerns Comstock Resources, the gas company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRK.

Under an agreement dated November 4, Comstock will sell non-operated interests in upstream assets, along with Pinnacle Gas Services, for a total cash consideration of $1.65 billion. The company disclosed the price in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, subject to customary purchase-price adjustments. The figure therefore represents the announced cash consideration for the assets, while the impact on debt depends on the company’s plan to use most of the proceeds for repayment. The company said it expects to record a gain on the sale of between $150 million and $250 million when it closes. That gain is tied to the deal’s closing and is not an amount the company said it has already recorded.

Completion of the sale is subject to customary closing conditions, including any required government approvals. Comstock expects the deal to close by the end of 2026, according to its disclosure. Until then, using the proceeds to repay debt remains a subsequent step contingent on closing, rather than a completed reduction on the day the outlook change was announced. Moody’s links its expectation of lower leverage to the cash proceeds the deal will provide and the company’s use of most of them to repay debt. The positive outlook therefore reflects the expected credit trajectory as the plan is implemented, while the deal itself remains pending.

The debt-reduction plan is connected to an earlier amendment to the company’s bank facility. Following the November 4 amendment, the facility’s maturity was set at November 15, 2028, with an extension to November 15, 2031 after the SOCAR deal closes and debt is repaid with its proceeds. The longer extension remains conditional on both events, according to the company’s disclosure. After closing, total commitments under the bank facility are set to remain at $1.5 billion, while borrowings are subject to an initial borrowing base of $1.6 billion. These terms show how the deal’s financing impact is tied to debt repayment and to the banking arrangements that take effect at closing.

The deal comes as the company’s natural gas activity recorded year-over-year growth in the third quarter of 2026. Production totaled 122.4 billion cubic feet during the quarter, compared with 111.8 billion cubic feet in the same period of 2025, an increase of 10%, according to the company’s disclosure. Comstock also reported total liquidity of $868.6 million on September 30, 2026. This included $850 million of unused capacity under its bank facilities and $18.6 million in cash and cash equivalents. The two disclosures provide a picture of production and liquidity before the sale closes, during the period leading up to the expected closing date.

For the remainder of 2026, the company forecast spending $135 million to $155 million during the year’s final three months on drilling, completion, infrastructure and other activities. Looking beyond the deal, Moody’s says any future rating upgrade depends on management demonstrating that the company can operate within its cash flow. This is also tied to maintaining a less risky capital structure, according to the agency. Comstock’s completion of the SOCAR sale and use of the proceeds to repay debt therefore remain key steps in the path Moody’s is assessing. The agency did not set a date for a subsequent upgrade; it linked one to the company demonstrating its ability to meet both conditions.