Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for FANG Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research cut its FY2026 earnings estimate for Diamondback Energy to $18.11 per share from $18.70 and kept a Hold rating on the stock. That new forecast is below the broader consensus estimate of $19.14 per share.
• Diamondback recently beat expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $4.23 EPS versus the $3.74 consensus and revenue of $4.24 billion versus $3.83 billion expected. Revenue also rose 4.7% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on FANG despite the lowered estimate, with a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $218.26. Several firms recently raised targets, and institutional ownership remains high at 90.01%.

Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of Diamondback Energy in a note issued to investors on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the oil and natural gas company will post earnings of $18.11 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $18.70. Zacks Research has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Diamondback Energy's current full-year earnings is $19.14 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Diamondback Energy's Q4 2026 earnings at $4.19 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $3.97 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $4.26 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $16.42 EPS.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.83 billion. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.54 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on FANG. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $196.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Diamondback Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Roth Capital set a $212.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $212.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Diamondback Energy has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.26.

Diamondback Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of FANG opened at $195.38 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $191.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.96 billion, a PE ratio of 227.19 and a beta of 0.42. Diamondback Energy has a 12-month low of $134.30 and a 12-month high of $214.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diamondback Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,733,538 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $821,649,000 after buying an additional 163,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,621,120 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $844,073,000 after acquiring an additional 14,625 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,159,365 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $775,607,000 after acquiring an additional 532,756 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,332,885 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $651,363,000 after acquiring an additional 534,073 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Diamondback Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,828,941 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $575,605,000 after acquiring an additional 117,798 shares during the period. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.50, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,640,370.50. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 83,334 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $15,593,458.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 851,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,338,293.60. This trade represents a 8.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 113,691 shares of company stock worth $21,622,752. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Diamondback Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Diamondback Energy's payout ratio is currently 511.63%.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc NASDAQ: FANG is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback's activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.

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