EQT Earnings Miss Follows CEO's $9.6M Peak Sale
EQT missed Q3 earnings (0.39 EPS vs 0.40 consensus) after three consecutive beats, with the stock now trading below CEO Toby Rice's August sale price of $55.03. The timing of Rice's $9.65M sale near t
EQT Earnings Miss Follows CEO's $9.6M Sale Near Peak
NEW YORK, October 21 —
EQT Corporation (EQT) snapped a three-quarter beat streak with a 2.5% EPS miss last quarter, and the stock sits $0.21 below where CEO Toby Rice collected $9.65 million in August, a gap narrow enough to ask whether the executive saw something the analyst consensus, which still carries a $66.44 target, has not yet priced.
- Q3 EPS of $0.39 missed the $0.40 consensus estimate, the first miss after beats of 43.9%, 18.3%, and 11.5% in the prior three quarters.
- CEO Rice sold 175,328 shares at $55.03 on August 14; the stock closed at $54.82 on October 21, below his exit price.
- EQT carries $5.55 billion net debt; on October 7, six days before Q3 results, the company entered a new material financial obligation per an SEC 8-K filing.
The CEO's Exit Price Is Now the Ceiling
When Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares at $55.03, the only open-market insider sale in the 90-day window, with zero purchases from any insider, he set a mark the stock has failed to clear since. EQT Corporation explores, produces, gathers, and transmits natural gas across the Appalachian Basin, selling to marketers, utilities, and industrial customers; the business threw off $2.46 billion in free cash flow over the trailing twelve months against 80.7% gross margins. Those are not distressed numbers. But the CEO cashing out $9.65 million near what proved to be the near-term ceiling, followed six days before a disappointing quarter by a new material financial obligation, makes the bear case more compelling than the headline metrics alone suggest.
One Miss or a Break in the Pattern?
Three consecutive beats, 43.9%, 18.3%, 11.5%, established an EQT that consistently outran expectations. The Q3 figure of $0.39 against a $0.40 estimate is small in absolute terms, but it is the lowest EPS print in the trailing twelve months, following a $2.33 quarter just two periods prior. Trailing revenue of $9.29 billion fell 3.9% year-over-year, and the $5.55 billion net debt load has grown by whatever obligation the October 7 8-K disclosed, terms not specified in the filing's title items. At 15.1x forward earnings, the market is not pricing failure, but a second consecutive miss next quarter would force a reassessment of whether the beat streak was the signal or the exception.
| Ticker | Mkt cap | Fwd P/E | 52-wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| EQT | $34.3B | 15.1x | +2.5% |
| RRC | $10.2B | 10.6x | +20.4% |
| AR | $11.9B | 8.3x | +21.0% |
| LNG | $58.5B | 13.7x | +26.2% |
| EOG | $84.1B | 9.8x | +48.7% |
| FANG | $56.9B | 10.8x | +42.3% |
What Resolves the Bull-Bear Standoff
Wall Street's 'Moderate Buy' consensus and $66.44 target imply 21% upside, grounded in FCF generation and margin quality that support a higher multiple. Schaeffer's Investment Research flagged historically bearish technical resistance at current levels in October, consistent with the stock finding a ceiling near Rice's August exit. The specific number that settles the argument is next quarter's EPS: a return to the beat pattern would suggest Q3 was noise in an otherwise intact Appalachian gas franchise; a second miss would confirm the trend break. See the full DCF model and price target → The neutral stance reflects that both outcomes are live, the FCF case for the bulls is real, and so is the insider signal.
Current fundamentals, valuation and filing history for EQT Corporation (EQT) are tracked on its Basis Report page.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Did EQT beat or miss Q3 earnings?
EQT missed Q3 earnings, reporting 0.39 EPS against a 0.40 consensus estimate. This was the first miss after three consecutive beats of 43.9%, 18.3%, and 11.5% in the prior three quarters.
When did CEO Toby Rice sell EQT stock?
CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares on August 14 at $55.03 per share, generating $9.65 million. The article notes this was the only open-market insider sale in the 90-day window, with zero purchases from any insider.
What is the stock price now versus the CEO's sale price?
The stock closed at $54.82 on October 21, which is $0.21 below CEO Rice's August 14 exit price of $55.03. The article states the CEO effectively set a mark that the stock has failed to clear since his August sale.
What material obligation did EQT enter recently?
On October 7, six days before Q3 results, EQT entered a new material financial obligation per an SEC 8-K filing, though the filing's title items did not specify the terms.
What is Wall Street's price target for EQT?
Wall Street has a Moderate Buy consensus with a $66.44 price target, implying 21% upside from the October 21 close, grounded in the company's trailing twelve-month free cash flow of $2.46 billion and 80.7% gross margins.
EQT Corporation's most recent quarter produced the company's first EPS miss in four periods, and the stock trades within $0.21 of where CEO Toby Rice pocketed $9.65 million in August. One week before the results landed, EQT quietly entered a new material financial obligation — leaving open whether the three-quarter beat streak that defined the past year has genuinely reversed.