The information provided on EL7.AI is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
The information provided on EL7.AI is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
| Factor | Score | Distribution | Value | Avg | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valuation | 75 | 61.8x | 20.8x | Top tier | |
Growth | 64 | 27.3% | 6.1% | Around median | |
Quality | 63 | 3.1% | 6.6% | Around median | |
Safety | 47 | 4.2x | 0.7x | Around median | |
Capital Return | 28 | 2.47% | 2.02% | Bottom tier | |
Momentum | 87 | 13.0% | 4.1% | Top tier | |
Sentiment | 70 | 9 | 3 | Top tier |
Estimates — analyst targets and a simplified DCF, not investment advice.
Ten ratios that matter, each compared against its sector median and average — so you can see whether a number is rich or cheap relative to peers in the same sector.
SM Energy Company is an oil exploration and production company listed on the NYSE under the ticker SM, and it generates its revenue primarily from the production and sale of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids through a platform that, after the closing of the Civitas merger on January 30, 2026, is distributed across four main basins. Management describes the post-merger company as a large-scale shale platform with multi-year inventory, with capital focused on the highest-return projects in the Permian, DJ, South Texas, and Uinta. In the first quarter of 2026, production reached 371 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, including 190 thousand barrels of oil per day, meaning oil represented about 51% of reported production volume.
In the first quarter of 2026, SM Energy reported revenue of $1.5 billion, but recorded a GAAP net loss of $335 million and a loss per share of $1.68, which management attributed largely to a non-cash mark-to-market adjustment to the hedge portfolio as of March 31. On an adjusted basis, adjusted EBITDAX was $970 million, and adjusted net income was $309 million, or $1.55 per diluted share, equivalent to an adjusted EBITDAX margin of about 65% of revenue and an adjusted net income margin of about 21%. The company also generated adjusted free cash flow of $20 million despite about $180 million of one-time cash costs related to the merger and integration, while capital expenditures came in at $672 million, below the guidance range.
The asset mix in the first quarter shows how the new platform translates into operating figures: in the Permian, the company turned in line 25 net wells and achieved the longest and fastest Wolfcamp D wells in its history, and in the DJ, it improved simul-frac operations in Watkins, increasing completion efficiency by 25% compared with zipper operations. In South Texas, base production performance improved and completion efficiency increased by 6% compared with 2025, while Uinta achieved a cash production margin of nearly $40 per barrel, the highest within the portfolio according to management. Based on these results, management raised the midpoint of annual production guidance from 410 thousand to 420 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, and raised the midpoint of oil production guidance from 221 thousand to 225 thousand barrels per day while maintaining annual capital expenditure guidance at $2.65 to $2.85 billion.
The provided analyst consensus on SM Energy is Buy, with an average price target of $36, a high target of $55, and a low target of $29, while the 52-week range extends from $17.45 to $35.88. No reported P/E multiple appears in the data, which is important because the first quarter included a GAAP loss of $335 million despite adjusted net income of $309 million. Since the real-time price is not fixed within this text, the practical comparison with the analyst target should be read from the automatically updated field outside the analysis, while the 52-week range indicates that the average target is slightly above the top of the stated range.
Figures in the text are as of 2026-06-30; the live price is shown at the top of the page.
The company recorded a GAAP net loss of $335 million and a loss per share of $1.68 in the first quarter of 2026. CFO Wade Pursell explained that the loss was largely related to a non-cash mark-to-market adjustment to the hedge portfolio as of March 31. Excluding these items, adjusted net income was $309 million, or $1.55 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDAX was also $970 million, a figure that reflects the strength of the operating business compared with revenue of $1.5 billion.
SM Energy closed the Civitas merger on January 30, 2026, so the first quarter included only about two months of operations of the combined company. After roughly 100 days of integration, management said it had activated nearly $300 million of merger synergies and raised the synergy target to $375 million by the end of 2026. It also raised the estimated present value of these synergies to about $1.8 billion, after the previous estimate had been between $1.0 and $1.5 billion. The broader strategic impact is that the company now operates across four main basins instead of relying on a narrower asset base.
After the first-quarter results, management raised the midpoint of annual production guidance from 410 thousand to 420 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. It also raised the midpoint of oil production guidance from 221 thousand to 225 thousand barrels per day. By contrast, it maintained annual capital expenditure guidance at $2.65 to $2.85 billion, which means the current plan targets greater volume within the same investment range. The company expects the second-half production rate to be about 430 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, with 238 thousand barrels of oil per day.
Automated analysis for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
SM Energy closed the sale of the South Texas assets on April 30, 2026 with net proceeds of nearly $900 million. Management said all of these proceeds were directed to debt reduction, and that absolute debt had declined by about $700 million since the closing of the Civitas transaction. It also stated that initial leverage is moving toward a low range around 1x, ahead of its original year-end target. In addition, the banks reaffirmed a borrowing base of $5 billion even after excluding the sold assets and using lower commodity price assumptions.
Management said it expects to begin share repurchases in the second quarter of 2026. This is tied to the Bolster plan, which focuses on reducing leverage and accelerating free cash flow after most one-time integration costs have passed. Wade Pursell explained that the company may buy back more shares than previously expected if higher free cash flow accelerates reaching the low leverage range around 1x. However, management did not announce a specific repurchase amount in the text, instead tying its size to the development of leverage and free cash flow during the year.
The first clear risk is volatility in oil and gas prices, because management itself said cash taxes for 2026 and 2027 will be affected by the level of oil prices, and that prices between $70 and $80 could keep cash taxes below $100 million. The second risk is that a large part of the improvement in free cash flow is expected in the second half, while adjusted free cash flow in the first quarter was only $20 million after cash integration costs of about $180 million. The third risk relates to the full realization of merger synergies, as the target was raised to $375 million by the end of 2026 and this must show up in costs and cash flows. Insider signals also showed selling over three months, with 0 purchases and one sale through May 21, 2026.