BRY - Berry bounces 9% after Q4 earnings rout estimates

Berry Corp. ( NASDAQ: BRY ) +8.9% in Wednesday's trading, soaring to an eight-month high after reporting Q4 adjusted earnings that crushed analyst expectations while doubling its fixed dividend starting in Q1 and boosting its buyback authorization. to $200M.

Q4 net income of $72M and adjusted EBITDA of $78M fell from $192M and $97M, respectively, in Q3, due primarily to lower commodity prices resulting in lower revenue, higher purchased fuel costs and higher greenhouse gas costs.

Q4 average production of 25.8K boe/day was flat compared to Q3, with company-wide oil production rising 2% Y/Y; California production, which consists solely of oil and comprises 82% of total company production, edged up 1% to 21.1K boe/day in the quarter.

Q4 company-wide realized oil price, including hedging, fell to $73.39/bbl from $76.41/bbl in Q3.

"We are proud to have returned $189M to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases, which is roughly 27% of our current market capitalization returned in just one year," CEO Fernando Araujosaid.

Berry ( BRY ) shares have gained 24.5% so far this year and 23% during the past 12 months .

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