Coterra Energy shares dropped 3% on Tuesday despite the oil and natural gas producer delivering better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings late Monday. Capital efficiency was a highlight with output levels above management’s outlook range and capital expenditures near the low end of guidance. Revenue in the three months ended Dec. 31 declined 13% versus the year-ago period at $1.395 billion, slightly missing the $1.4 billion consensus forecast, according to analyst estimates compiled by LSEG. Adjusted diluted earnings per share fell 6% versus the year-ago period to 49 cents and beat expectations of 43 cents, LSEG data showed. Why we own it Formed by the merger of Cabot Oil & Gas and Cimarex, Coterra Energy is an exploration-and-production company with a high-quality, diversified asset portfolio. The company practices capital discipline and is a low-cost operator. Our lone energy stock, Coterra also acts as a hedge on inflation and geopolitical risk. Competitors: EQT Corp ., Devon Energy Last buy: Oct. 1, 2024 Initiation: April 14, 2022 Bottom Line Coterra Energy ended the year on a good note thanks to strong production on a lower-than-expected capital expenditure base. This is what we mean when we say Coterra is a disciplined, capital-efficient operator. It is able to get more out of the ground while keeping spending in check. There was some nitpicking around the company’s first-quarter outlook, which featured a lower-than-consensus production outlook and higher capital expenditures. However, the 2025 outlook was pretty much in line with what management provided in November when the company announced the acquisition of two assets in the Permian basin, a resource-rich area in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. But there were two noteworthy updates to the full-year projections: (1) Coterra is lowering its planned Permian spending this year by $70 million, driven by cost and service deflation and acquisition synergies. (2) It’s taking part of those cost savings and raising its investment in the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale by $50 million to increase drilling activity that will impact next winter’s volumes. The Marcellus encompasses parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky. If macro conditions present an opportunity, management said it could increase Marcellus capital by an incremental $50 million in the second half of 2025 to deliver higher volumes by early 2026. This flexibility between basins and commodities is what has always attracted us to Coterra. If oil has a stronger outlook versus natural gas, Coterra can shift some of its investment activity toward more oily regions, like the Permian. If nat gas has the better fundamental outlook, it can flex some of that spending towards Marcellus to capitalize on the opportunity. “Although our 2025 plan includes significant oil investments, we also have flexibility if oil markets were to wobble. Rest assured, if we need to adjust our capital plan during the year, we will do so thoughtfully and explain it thoroughly. Flexibility is the coin of the realm,” CEO Tom Jorden said on Tuesday’s post-earnings conference call, which always held the morning after the results are released. Powering energy-intensive data centers that run artificial intelligence workloads is also an opportunity for Coterra as nat gas is the most immediate answer given many of the recent nuclear power deals with tech companies will take time to have an impact. Jorden, who will be on “Mad Money” on Tuesday evening said on the earnings call that the company is in discussions with “everything from good old fashioned combined cycle plants to, behind the meter type power solutions for data centers.” He added, “I think everyone’s still trying to figure out exactly what the end state looks like. But we have so many molecules and so many places that, we’re really well positioned to take advantage of some of this. And I’m hopeful we’ll have some good announcements coming before too long on this.” As for cash returns, Coterra paid out $218 million to shareholders in the quarter — split between $168 million in dividends and $50 million coming from share repurchases. The buyback was a step down from the $111 million spent in the third quarter but that was due to the company funding its Permian acquisitions and prioritizing debt repayment. Slower buybacks may continue this year despite $1.1 billion remaining on a $2 billion share repurchase program. As for the dividend, the company is hiking its quarterly payment by 5% to 22 cents per share, which brings the annual dividend yield on the stock up to around 3.2% based on a $27.25 stock price. That’s roughly where shares were trading Tuesday. We booked profits in Coterra in late January when the stock neared $30 per share. With the stock down about 5% since the trim, we are warming up to the idea of buying those shares back. However, we’re looking for a little bit more of a pullback to pull the trigger. So, while reiterating our 2 rating, we’re nudging up our price target to $30 per share from $28. CTRA 1Y mountain Coterra Energy 1 year 2025 guidance Following its announced Permian Basin acquisitions, Coterra provided pro forma 2025 capital expenditure, total production, and oil production outlook. The company tweaked the total production and oil production ranges but left them unchanged at the midpoint. The capital expenditure budget was also unchanged. Estimated discretionary cash flow of $5 billion based on recent strip prices. That’s higher than the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Estimated capital expenditure budget of $2.1 billion to $2.4 billion. The $2.25 billion midpoint is in line with the consensus of $2.23 billion. Free cash flow is estimated to be $2.7 billion based on recent strip prices. That’s higher than the consensus estimate of $2.375 billion. The company expects 2025 total equivalent production of 710 to 770 Mboe/d. The 740 midpoint of the range is slightly below the consensus forecast of 747 Mboe/d, which stands for total oil equivalent of a thousand barrels per day. Oil production is expected to be in the range of 152 to 168 Mbo/d and inline with consensus of estimate of 160 Mbo/d, which stands for a thousand of barrels of oil per day. Natural gas production is now expected to be in the range of 2,675 to 2,875 MMcf/d. The 2,775 midpoint is below the consensus of 2,808 MMcf/d, which stands for a million standard cubic feet per day. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long CTRA. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
In this photo illustration, a Coterra Energy Inc. logo is seen on a smartphone screen.
Coterra Energy shares dropped 3% on Tuesday despite the oil and natural gas producer delivering better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings late Monday. Capital efficiency was a highlight with output levels above management’s outlook range and capital expenditures near the low end of guidance.
2024 Drive Electric Week EV parade in Wenatchee, WA. Photo: Julie Banken
Drive Electric Month kicks off this week with nearly 200 online and in-person events celebrating electric vehicles over the course of the next month. Events will be held for the next several weekends all across the US, plus a few in Canada and one in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Drive Electric Month is an annual event organized by Plug In America, the Electric Vehicle Association, EVHybridNoire, Drive Electric USA, and the Sierra Club. This is the event’s 15th year. It started in the US as National Drive Electric Week, but for the last few years, some events have been hosted in other countries as well, and now the event has expanded to cover most of the month of September, with a few events in October as well.
These events are an opportunity for prospective EV buyers to talk directly with EV owners about the experience of owning an electric car, and EV owners to network with each other and share tips. The dealership experience is not ideal for many EV shoppers, so unfiltered conversations with EV owners can be a great way to learn.
Each event is organized by local EV advocates, and they range in size from small parking lot meetups and local EV parades to large festivals with lots of booths from nearby car dealers and green businesses. Many events have live music, family-friendly activities, food trucks and the like.
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A map showing 2025’s events
Drive Electric Month has a map and list of events happening over the course of the month. Most events are in-person, but there are some webinar-style online events that you can attend to hear about various topics related to electric vehicles if you can’t get to any local evels. You can also search for events near you.
Be sure to click through to each individual event’s page to see what your local events will look like, what types of EVs might be in attendance, and register your interest.
Here’s a sample of some of the events happening over the course of the month:
Oregon Electric Vehicle Association (OEVA) Test Drive & Information Expo in Portland, Oregon on September 13, 10am-4pm: Along with the standard test drives and car displays, this event will have a number of gas to electric conversions and antique EVs on display. It’s happening at the Daimler Truck North America headquarters, and some of the space will be used for seminars and presentations.
Drive Electric Month Oahu in Aiea, Hawaii on September 13, 10am-2pm: The largest Hawaiian event is just outside of Honolulu, but there are events on four Hawaiian islands this year, with the others in Lihue on Kauai on Sep13, Hilo on the Big Island on Sep27, and Kahului on Maui on Oct11.
DIY conversions are one of the more fun things to see at these events. Image from OEVA/Plug In America
Mesa EV Ride & Drive in Mesa, Arizona on September 20, 8am-12pm: A veteran group of organizers is bringing the EV experience to Mesa Community College on Saturday, Sept. 20. People can test drive a variety of models, talk to real owners and learn how and where to charge.
Jimmy Buffett Son of a Sailor Festival in Mobile, Alabama on September 20, 2pm-7pm: There will be EV displays at this festival which celebrates Jimmy Buffett and Gulf Coast culture. The free festival features live music, local restaurants, parrot-head costume contests and EV drivers who can answer all your questions about driving electric.
Electric Avenue at the Downtown Car Show in Grand Junction, Colorado on September 20, 9am-3pm: At the 23rd annual downtown car show, EVs will have their own block. Spectators will visit with drivers and can participate in a friendly competition for great prizes.
Knoxville’s event is one of the largest, with 75 cars registered so far. Image from Tennessee Clean Fuels
Knoxville Drive Electric Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee on September 27, 10am-3pm: This event bills itself as the largest NDEM event in the Southeast. Along with EV displays and ride-and-drive, the live music stage will be powered by a Ford F-150 Lightning using its vehicle-to-load capabilities.
Plug In America Ride and Drive at Space Coast Pride Parade & Festival in Melbourne, Florida on September 27, 12pm-4pm: Plug In America itself is hosting a ride-and-drive at the Space Coast Pride Parade & Festival on Saturday, Sept. 27. The public can test drive EVs from different manufacturers, engage with local EV owners and ask questions of the organization’s EV experts.
ELECTRATON DEM’25 in Guadalajara on October 4 from 9am-5pm: This is once again the sole event in Mexico, hosted at Oscar Casillas Karting Track, where there will also be a 4th annual race of student-built electric karts alongside the EV exhibition and test drives. (Here are some photos from last year’s event, including the student kart races and a Cybertruck on track).
Not all the events are large or hosted in big cities. There are also smaller events happening in town centers, church parking lots, and so on, often with just a handful of EV owners who are typically happy to stand around and have a frank discussion with members of the public about what it’s like to own an EV, or to network with other local EV owners.
Many of these events are happening in conjunction with Sun Day, a global day of action calling for a sun-powered planet on September 21 this year. These events will focus on how solar has become a drastically cheaper form of energy, and highlight ways that everyone can benefit from more solar and by electrifying whatever uses energy in our lives – whether that be vehicles, appliances, etc.
On that front, one notable Drive Electric/Sun Day event will be in Whittier, CA on Sep. 20th (not the 21st) from 11am-3pm, with test drives, an electrified home tour, and an eco scavenger hunt. It’s being organized by one of the original founders of National Drive Electric Week, so expect to see some EV oldtimers at this one.
If you’d like to attend any of these events, either to show your vehicle, to volunteer to help run the event, or just to show up and look around, you can check out the list of events, then go to each event’s page to find more information. Remember to click the “RSVP” or “Volunteer” links near the top to register your interest (or register at the links mentioned in the event description).
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Tesla has discontinued the cheapest version of the Cybertruck just a few months after launching it.
No one wanted the gutted electric truck.
There’s no hiding it. The Cybertruck is a commercial flop.
Tesla claimed to have over 1 million reservations for the vehicle. It planned for a production capacity of up to 250,000 units per year, and CEO Elon Musk even said that he believes it could increase to 500,000 units per year.
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Meanwhile, Tesla is currently selling the Cybertruck at a rate of roughly 20,000 units per year.
The primary reason for the significantly lower-than-anticipated sales is that Tesla launched the Cybertruck at a higher price and with worse specifications than initially announced.
Instead of starting at $80,000, like the Cybertruck AWD, the Cybertruck RWD started at $70,000.
However, it was an even worse deal because Tesla had essentially stripped the vehicle of its most valuable features, including active air suspension, a motorized tonneau cover, and even the power outlets in the bed, in addition to removing a motor.
Less than 5 months after launching the new vehicle, Tesla has discontinued the Cybertruck RWD.
The automaker updated the Cybertruck’s online configurator to remove the option:
Tesla hasn’t replaced the variant with a new one. It just stopped taking orders.
Electrek’s Take
I don’t know of anyone who ordered this. It was such a bad deal. There’s already only a small pool of potential Cybertruck buyers, but none of them want to lose all those essential features for $10,000.
Where does the Cybertruck go from there? Does Tesla keep the vehicle program at just ~20,000 units per year?
I think they may try to do an upgrade next year to bring it closer to what they originally promised and see if there’s more demand as a result.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks to members of the media as he arrives at a lodge for the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference on July 8, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Oracle‘s historic stock surge this week marked the latest chapter in the story of a single private company that’s dominated the tech landscape for almost three years: OpenAI.
In Oracle’s blowout earnings report, OpenAI was a key catalyst due to a massive amount of money the artificial intelligence startup expects to spend on cloud computing technology in the coming years.
It’s becoming a familiar theme.
A week earlier, Broadcom shares popped almost 10% after the chipmaker and software vendor said it forged a $10 billion deal to build custom processors for a customer that analysts said was OpenAI.
Among tech’s megacaps, Microsoft has the closest link to OpenAI, having invested more than $13 billion in the company and serving as its key cloud partner for six years. Nvidia’s march to becoming the world’s most valuable company is intimately tied to OpenAI, as its graphics processing units (GPUs) sit at the heart of large language model development and are essential for running big AI workloads.
Those four companies alone — Oracle, Broadcom, Microsoft and Nvidia — have seen their combined market caps swell by over $4.5 trillion since OpenAI burst into public view with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. And those gains are a big reason why the Nasdaq and S&P 500 have sustained sharp rallies, with both benchmarks closing at a record on Friday.
OpenAI’s outsized influence has some market experts understandably concerned. It remains a cash-burning startup that’s governed by a nonprofit parent.
The company’s $500 billion valuation is supported by a small number of investors betting that OpenAI will prevail in the face of hefty competition from the likes of Meta and Google as well as other highly-valued newcomers like Anthropic and any number of players out of China.
“While we love ChatGPT, OpenAI is still a not for profit limited in its ability to raise capital,” said Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, in an interview with CNBC.
Luria, who recommends holding Oracle shares, dug into the company’s numbers as the stock was in the midst of a 36% jump on Wednesday, its biggest gain since 1992.
In its quarterly earnings report late Tuesday, Oracle said it signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with three different customers during the period. One of those was with OpenAI, which said previously that it agreed to develop 4.5 gigawatts of U.S. data center capacity with Oracle.
Investors knew, based on a filing with the SEC in June, that Oracle signed a $30 billion cloud contract with an unnamed company that’s set to begin in two years. CNBC confirmed a Wall Street Journal report from Wednesday that OpenAI has agreed to spend $300 billion in computing power over about five years, starting in 2027.
In the two trading days after its historic pop, Oracle’s stock retreated, dropping more than 6% on Thursday and another 5% on Friday, as other investors began sharing Luria’s concerns.
The new revelations about OpenAI’s massive cloud commitment provided a clearer sense of Oracle’s expanding backlog.Oracle said its performance obligations, a measure of contracted revenue that has not yet been recognized, surged 359% from a year earlier to to $455 billion.
Luria said the concentration of Oracle’s backlog with a single customer “significantly reduces” enthusiasm, particularly if “more than 90% came from OpenAI.”
Oracle didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Altman’s open wallet
OpenAI has made big commitments to several other cloud providers, including CoreWeave and Google, and reportedly plans to put $19 billion toward Stargate, a project President Donald Trump announced in January to bolster AI infrastructure investments in the U.S. Stargate is a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank, which is separately leading a planned $40 billion investment in OpenAI.
Luria said the takeaway is that “Sam Altman has the gumption to sign very large checks without needing to worry about whether those can ever be cashed.”
OpenAI declined to comment.
While OpenAI will be losing money for the foreseeable future, the company is expecting revenue growth to continue at a breakneck pace. After hitting $10 billion in annual recurring revenue in June, OpenAI is on pace for that number to reach $125 billion by 2029, CNBC confirmed.
And on Thursday, OpenAI got a step closer to formalizing its transition to a for-profit entity. The company said its nonprofit parent will continue to have oversight over the business and will own an equity stake of more than $100 billion as the commercial entity becomes a public benefit corporation.
OpenAI needs the restructuring to take place by year-end in order to secure the entirety of the $40 billion from its latest financing round.
For Oracle, the massive increase in OpenAI spending has landed the company within shouting distance of the trillion-dollar club, which currently includes eight tech peers. Oracle’s market cap climbed to about $930 billion on Wednesday before retreating to $830 billion to close the week.
Byron Deeter, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, told CNBC’s “Money Movers” that he’s still skeptical of Oracle’s prospects in AI. The company has spent years trying to play catchup in cloud infrastructure, where it trails Amazon, Microsoft and Google.
Deeter said Oracle remains a “B-level hyperscaler” without meaningful positions in AI software or chips.
“Two days ago, we all thought Oracle was essentially nowhere in AI,” Deeter said, following the earnings report. “They announce this mega-deal, people think they’re the next great hyperscaler – and I don’t buy that part.”