Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (AXAS) jumped 12% today after the company announced an operational update.
So what: Management increased its 2014 production guidance from a range of 5,200-5,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 5,500-5,700 Boepd. The increase comes from three additional planned wells, which will increase capital expenditures this year by $35 million to $160 million.
Now what: Shares were already trading at 10.6 times forward earnings before the update, so there's further upside given this operational success. Management also doesn't expect operational costs per barrel to increase because of the new production, so that provides leverage for Abraxas. Given the solid production numbers, I think shares still have room to run, especially because big oil is cutting back on capital spending, so oil prices should remain high.
