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COP · PETROLEUM REFINING · 8-K · Item 2.02 · Aug 6, 2026

Strong earnings beat, but production still shrank as prices did the lifting

CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP) — AllSight decodes this SEC 8-K in plain English, versus what the market expected.

The quarter cleared the published earnings bar. Adjusted EPS was $3.24 versus a published consensus of roughly $3.04, a meaningful beat, while reported EPS was $3.23; the result was helped by realized prices rather than volume growth. (Table 1: Reconciliation of earnings to adjusted earnings; Average Realized Prices)

Metric2Q26 actualComparison / expectation
Adjusted EPS$3.24Published consensus: ~$3.04
Adjusted earnings$3.951 billion2Q25: $1.793 billion (Table 1: Reconciliation of earnings to adjusted earnings)
Realized price$62.33/BOE2Q25: $45.77/BOE (Average Realized Prices)
Production2,248 MBOED2Q25: 2,391 MBOED (Table 3: Reconciliation of reported production)
Cash from operations$7.176 billion2Q26 operating cash flow: $7.434 billion (Table 2: Reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities)
Share repurchases$2.0 billion2Q25: $1.222 billion (Cash Flow Information)

Higher commodity prices, not stronger output, explain most of the upside. Total realized prices rose 36% year over year to $62.33 per BOE, lifting adjusted earnings to $3.951 billion from $1.793 billion even as production fell 6% reported and 4% on an underlying basis. (Average Realized Prices; Table 3: Reconciliation of reported production) The production outcome was above the company’s prior second-quarter guidance of 2.185–2.215 million BOE per day, but the underlying trend remains weaker because Qatar disruption and higher Surmont royalties more than offset Lower 48 growth. (Production; Table 3: Reconciliation of reported production)

Cash generation and capital returns were stronger than the headline production trend. The company generated $7.2 billion of cash from operations excluding working-capital timing, funded $3.0 billion of capital spending, repurchased $2.0 billion of stock and paid $1.0 billion in ordinary dividends. (Table 2: Reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities; Cash Flow Information) Doubling quarterly repurchases is a tangible capital-allocation signal, though it was enabled by unusually favorable oil prices rather than by a clear volume reacceleration.

The strategic additions expand the story but do not change the near-term earnings read. ConocoPhillips reached its $5 billion asset-disposition target ahead of schedule, increased LNG offtake to 12 MTPA and agreed to acquire a 42% Kirkuk-area interest in Iraq, with closing expected by year-end 2026. (Press release: Strategic priorities) These moves improve portfolio optionality, but the Iraq transaction is not yet closed and therefore adds little immediate earnings or cash flow.

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