Karishma Vanjani

Venture Global stock moved up sharply midday Tuesday, reversing a double-digit drop. Lifting the liquefied natural-gas exporter were an amended contract and management's optimism on new deals.

Shares fell as much as 12%, then spiked more than 10% to $10.93. The company went public in January.

Venture Global, on Tuesday morning, posted first-quarter earnings of 15 cents a share, far below the 26-cents call of Wall Street analysts tracked by FactSet. Venture Global's fourth-quarter were below Wall Street's expectations as well.

The earnings combined with the company's decision to trim its annual guidance for adjusted Ebitda -- earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization -- probably pulled down the share price earlier in the day.

Venture said it expects adjusted Ebitda of $6.4 billion to $6.8 billion. In March, Venture expected $6.8 billion to $7.4 billion.

Sentiment reversed as investors digested other details in the earnings report. For one, adjusted Ebitda for the latest quarter at $1.35 billion was above the FactSet consensus of $1.33 billion. Revenue at $2.9 billion also beat the $2.65 billion expected by analysts.

News on Venture Global's CP2 project, which is an expansion of a liquefied natural gas project in Louisiana, probably also contributed to the stock's turnaround.

An existing customer, New Fortress Energy, increased its 20-year sales and purchase agreement with Venture Global to 1.5 million metric tons a year (MTPA) from 1 million metric tons.

Venture Global management also said "we're very active in a significant number of negotiations for long-term contracts at this point, mostly all 20-year terms."

Environmental advocates have criticized CP2's impact on the fisheries, but a faster pace of contract confirmations is good for the stock.

"The ability to further contract the project has been a key concern and the upsized SPA disclosed in the 10Q [form] appears to be a positive first step," Citi's analyst Spiro Douni wrote.

Douni reiterated his Neutral/High risk rating on the stock. His target price is $11.

Goldman John Mackay kept his Buy recommendation and expects the stock price to hit $20.

Write to Karishma Vanjani at karishma.vanjani@dowjones.com.

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May 13, 2025 13:27 ET (17:27 GMT)

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