California Resources Corp (CRC) · Nov 2, 2026 · Earnings
Beat — Adjusted EPS $1.17 vs ~$0.94–$1.00 consensus
California Resources’ Q3 earnings beat consensus on adjusted EPS and cash flow, while higher operating costs and commodity hedges remain key offsets.
California Resources is moving from an acquisition-heavy buildout toward optimizing an integrated California oil, gas, midstream, power and carbon-management platform; its stated strategy is to lower costs, improve capital efficiency and develop CCS and related infrastructure.
The quarter beat the market’s adjusted-earnings bar. Adjusted diluted EPS was $1.17 versus published estimates around $0.94–$1.00, while adjusted EBITDAX was $341 million and free cash flow was $147 million. The earnings beat is real, but it came alongside a reported $315 million GAAP loss driven largely by commodity-derivative marks rather than a collapse in underlying production. The filing says the net loss included a $540 million non-cash loss from changes in derivative fair value.
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjusted diluted EPS (Financial Results) | $1.17 | $1.46 | $0.94–$1.00 |
| Adjusted EBITDAX (Financial Results) | $341M | $338M | |
| Net production (Production Statistics) | 152 MBoe/d | 137 MBoe/d | |
| Free cash flow (Free Cash Flow) | $147M | $188M | |
| Operating costs (Statements of Operations) | $386M | $316M |
Operations were healthy, but not clean. Total production rose to 152 MBoe/d from 137 MBoe/d a year earlier, and the filing says NGL and natural-gas production exceeded guidance by roughly 1 MBoe/d, helped by the Belridge–Elk Hills connection and higher gas processing and NGL recovery. 〔0〕 But operating costs jumped to $386 million from $316 million, and management explicitly said costs were higher than anticipated because of more expensive gas used in steamflood operations and increased workover activity. 〔1〕
The strategic transition advanced, but most of the long-term value remains execution-dependent. CRC closed the Crimson midstream acquisition, agreed to sell its Uinta Basin assets for about $90 million, and signed a non-binding Bloom Energy MOU targeting at least 1 GW of fuel-cell power paired with CCS. Those actions sharpen the California-focused platform, but the Bloom project still requires definitive agreements, permits and final investment decisions. The company also raised its annual dividend target by about 4% to $1.68 per share, while liquidity declined to $1.315 billion from $1.401 billion at year-end. 〔2〕
Bottom line: CRC delivered a genuine adjusted-earnings beat with better production and continued cash generation, strengthening the near-term operating story. The offset is that cost inflation and weaker free cash flow show the new optimization phase still has work to do; this is a modest advance, not a wholesale change in the thesis.
2027 guidance with fourth-quarter earnings release
A buy-side analyst on every ticker — it reads every public company's filing the instant it drops and decodes it into plain English.
A buy-side analyst on every ticker — the whole market decoded the second it moves, before it's a headline. Free gives you a taste. Pro takes the cap off and opens the full read on every company.
by Signing in NOW, claim your FREE 14-day Pro trial!