Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) Q2 Earnings: Taking a Look at Key Metrics Versus Estimates

Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) reported $10.65 billion in revenue for the quarter ended June 2026, representing a year-over-year increase of 69.4%. EPS of $1.58 for the same period compares to $0.51 a year ago.

The reported revenue represents a surprise of +15.11% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.25 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $1.43, the EPS surprise was +10.49%.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how Canadian Natural Resources performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

• Production Volumes, before royalties - Total Natural Gas: 2567 millions of cubic feet compared to the 2604.62 millions of cubic feet average estimate based on three analysts.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Total Equivalent Production: 1,676,754.00 BOE/D versus 1,655,104.00 BOE/D estimated by three analysts on average.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Total crude oil and NGL: 1,248,889.00 BBL/D compared to the 1,221,002.00 BBL/D average estimate based on three analysts.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Crude Oil and NGLs - North America E&P - Thermal In Situ: 275.61 thousands of barrels of oil versus 279.8 thousands of barrels of oil estimated by two analysts on average.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Crude Oil and NGLs - Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading: 624.75 thousands of barrels of oil versus the two-analyst average estimate of 603.18 thousands of barrels of oil.
• Crude Oil and NGLs Sales Volumes - North America - NGLs: 120.62 thousands of barrels of oil versus the two-analyst average estimate of 118.24 thousands of barrels of oil.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Crude Oil and NGLs - International - North Sea: 6.59 thousands of barrels of oil versus the two-analyst average estimate of 6.25 thousands of barrels of oil.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Crude Oil and NGLs - International - Offshore Africa: 3.8 thousands of barrels of oil compared to the 4 thousands of barrels of oil average estimate based on two analysts.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Natural Gas - North America: 2,563.00 Mcf/D versus the two-analyst average estimate of 2,602.40 Mcf/D.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Natural Gas - International - Offshore Africa: 2.00 Mcf/D versus the two-analyst average estimate of 6.96 Mcf/D.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Natural Gas - International - North Sea: 2.00 Mcf/D versus the two-analyst average estimate of 2.19 Mcf/D.
• Production Volumes, before royalties - Crude Oil and NGLs - North America E&P - Total North America E&P crude oil and NGLs: 613.75 thousands of barrels of oil compared to the 607.1 thousands of barrels of oil average estimate based on two analysts.

View all Key Company Metrics for Canadian Natural Resources here>>>

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources have returned +5.5% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +3.3% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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