NEXT - NextDecade upped at Stifel as Rio Grande LNG closes in on the finish line

NextDecade ( NASDAQ: NEXT ) is one of the week's biggest movers in the energy space, up ~40% and +10.1% in Thursday's trading, helped by news of a 20-year contract to supply liquefied natural gas to Exxon Mobil.

Exxon agreed to purchase 1M metric tons/year of liquefied natural gas from NextDecade's ( NEXT ) Rio Grande export project in Brownsville, Texas, as early as 2026.

In raising its rating to Hold from Sell with a $6 price target, raised from $4.50, Stifel analyst Benjamin Nolan noted the Exxon deal is NextDecade's ( NEXT ) fifth new long-term sale and purchase agreement signed this year, giving the company more than 8M tons of contracted capacity out of the 11M needed to reach final investment decision on the Rio Grande LNG project.

"Despite not having the capital or track record of its larger competitors, the company is now very close to getting enough offtakers [it] needs to move forward... not a done deal but clearly much more likely than not," Stifel said.

Earlier this month, NextDecade ( NEXT ) signed two Rio Grande LNG offtake agreements with Chinese companies .

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