APA Corporation (APA) stock analysis
APA Corporation (APA) clears 5 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 6 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 3 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $49.44 it trades 79.1% below this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of +79.1%). It returns +1.5% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does APA do?
APA Corporation explores for and produces oil and natural gas, with operations in the United States, Egypt and the North Sea.
What stands out about APA?
- The share price implies falling cash flow. At $49.44, even free cash flow per share shrinking 15% a year would still be worth more than the price in this site's DCF. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 1 of the 8 value filters. It fails Market Cap > $25B ($17.3B); the other 5 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Strongest against peers: free-cash-flow yield. At 28.0% (peer median 6.5%) it ranks 1st of 21 among energy stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Weakest against peers: revenue growth. At −12.4% (peer median 11.2%) it ranks 20th of 21 among energy stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Short interest is elevated. 7.3% of the float is sold short, 3.8 days to cover, above this site's 5% flag. See the figures.
How has APA's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is APA undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) +79.1%
- P/E vs. its own history 10.3x · at/above its priciest point Real range: 3.5x–7.7x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Hold · 3.45/5 33 analysts this month: 5 strong buy, 8 buy, 17 hold, 3 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Up from 3.42 last month.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 1 flag
- Standing vs. sector peers 4 of 7 measures above the median Compared with the 20 other energy stocks this site tracks: 3 in the top third, 1 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 1/6 flags
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +1.5% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 2.1% + buybacks 0.0% − stock comp 0.6%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 6 years its split-adjusted share count fell 5%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) n/a (under 8 years of filings)
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 0.79 · Under fair P/E 10.3× ÷ 13.1% a year of growth behind it. 67th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 2 of 4 · misses capital-light (n/a), real profit (n/a) Capital-light growth: cannot be measured (under 8 years of filings); Profit is real: cannot be measured (bank, insurer or REIT); Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): cleared. See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
How does APA compare with its peers?
4 of 7 measures sit above the median of the 20 other energy stocks tracked here, 3 in the top third and 1 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 17.2× 10.3× ✓3rd of 21
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 6.5% 28.0% ✓1st of 21
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 16% 26% ✓5th of 21
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 13.5% 19.0% –8th of 21
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 11.2% −12.4% ✕20th of 21
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.45 0.53 –13th of 21
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 2.10% 2.06% –13th of 21
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and APA doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: APA is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry, is trading below what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth - his own "price is what you pay, value is what you get" test, not a fixed multiple ceiling, and trades at a reasonable multiple of owner earnings, his own term for the real cash a business could pay out. Where it comes up short: APA carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, and hasn't grown earnings per share fast enough over five years to impress him.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✕
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✓
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✓
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and APA falls short of his bar. In its favor: APA clears an even tighter PEG-under-1 bar he'd want for a stock growing this fast, isn't asking too much even by a fast grower's usual richer multiple, and is generating real cash to back up a fast grower's higher price tag. Where it comes up short: APA is growing earnings outside the 20-50% band he considered sustainable for a fast grower - either not fast enough to earn the label, or a pace he'd flag as unlikely to hold up, and is leaning on more debt than he liked a growth story to carry.
- PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) ✓
- EPS growth 20%-50% ✕
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- P/E < 40 ✓
- Price/FCF < 40 ✓
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does APA pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $17.3B
- Trailing P/E < 25 10.33
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 0.79
- Price/Book < 8 2.47
- Price/Sales < 7 1.97
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +26.3%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is APA's margin of safety?
History tracking starts this week - check back in a future week to see how this has moved.
Where is APA in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in APA?
25,522,151 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with APA? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case +88%
- Short interest under 5% of float 7.3%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 5/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +129% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2022 4.05 → 0.64
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have APA shareholders gained per year?
Not enough clean earnings history to compute this for APA yet - a loss year in the window breaks the growth math rather than faking a number through it.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from APA's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do APA's 10-year financials show?
From APA's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 7 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about APA
What kind of company is APA?
APA Corporation explores for and produces oil and natural gas, with operations in the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. This site groups it with Energy stocks.
Is APA trading above or below its DCF value?
At $49.44, APA trades 79.1% below this site's neutral DCF value of $236.00 per share, a margin of safety of +79.1%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does APA pass?
APA passes 5 of 8. It passes Trailing P/E < 25 (10.33), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (0.79), Price/Book < 8 (2.47), Price/Sales < 7 (1.97) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+26.3%). It misses Market Cap > $25B ($17.3B). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
How much cash does APA return to shareholders?
APA's net shareholder yield is +1.5%: the cash it returns through dividends and buybacks, minus stock-based compensation, as a share of its market value. Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 2.1% + buybacks 0.0% − stock comp 0.6%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 6 years its split-adjusted share count fell 5%. Its trailing dividend yield is 2.06%, paid out of 7% of its free cash flow; the dividend-sustainability check raises 1 of 6 flags (declining revenue). See Shareholder Yield Leaders and the Sustainable Dividend Screener.
When does APA report earnings next?
APA's next earnings report is expected on November 4, 2026 after the market closes, with analysts expecting earnings of $1.51 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 4 times, by an average of +19.5%.
How heavily is APA stock sold short?
As of September 30, 2026, 7.3% of APA's float was sold short (25,522,151 shares, 3.8 days to cover), up 4.2% from the prior reporting period. FINRA publishes short interest twice a month, so it changes about every two weeks; this site flags anything above 5% of the float.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: APA's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 26, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this APA Corporation analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on APA Corporation (APA) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.