Expand Energy Corporation (EXE)

Expand Energy reported third-quarter 2026 net income of $519 million, or $2.24 per diluted share, on 27 October 1. Net production averaged 7.54 billion cubic feet equivalent a day, 92 percent of it natural gas 1.

The company named Danny Brown president and chief executive, effective 26 October, after Michael Wichterich served as interim chief executive from February 2026 5. Brown previously led the oil producer Chord Energy 5.

On 16 September it completed the purchase of Twin Eagle, a natural gas marketer, for about $1.4 billion including adjustments, which widens a business that sells gas to customers in the United States and Canada 2.

The open question is how that marketing arm performs under new leadership, since the company expects $80 million of marketing EBITDA, an operating earnings measure, in the fourth quarter 1.

The company was called Chesapeake Energy until the 2024 merger 3. It began in 1989, learned horizontal drilling soon after, and has focused almost wholly on natural gas since 2000 10. In the five years before that report it rose from the eighth-largest to the second-largest US gas producer 10.

By 2012 it owned interests in about 45,400 producing wells and called itself the most active driller in the country 11. That year gas prices fell to their lowest in ten years, and its proved reserves dropped 17 percent 11.

The oil price slump hit hard 12. In 2015 it reported a net loss of $14.635 billion on revenues of $12.764 billion 12.

In 2016 it sold about $1.4 billion of assets, including its Barnett Shale position in Texas, to raise cash and retire or refinance debt coming due 13.

Falling demand from the pandemic and a sharp drop in prices after OPEC+ production changes in March 2020 pushed the industry into a downturn 17. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a court process for restructuring debt, on 28 June 2020 and emerged on 9 February 2021 14.

All old shares were cancelled, and new shares went to lenders and certain creditors, alongside a $600 million rights offering 14.

It then rebuilt around gas 14. It completed the Vine Energy purchase in Louisiana's Haynesville shale on 1 November 2021, then purchased Chief in Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale on 9 March 2022 1415.

It sold its Powder River Basin assets in Wyoming for about $450 million in March 2022 15. During 2023 it left the Eagle Ford shale through three sales that brought in more than $3.5 billion 15.

On 11 January 2024 Chesapeake and Southwestern Energy agreed an all-stock merger worth $7.4 billion, with expected yearly savings of about $400 million 16. It closed on 1 October 2024, and the company took the name Expand Energy and the ticker EXE 39.

Revenue from natural gas, oil and liquids rose $5,507 million in 2025, mostly because the merger added volumes and gas prices were higher 3. Operating cash flow reached $4.58 billion in 2025 against $1.57 billion in 2024 3.

In March 2025 its stock joined the S&P 500 after it won investment grade credit ratings 3. On 9 February 2026 it replaced chief executive Nick Dell'Osso with chairman Michael Wichterich on an interim basis and announced a move of its headquarters to Houston 720. The company said the move aims to strengthen ties with industry and commercial partners 19.

Natural gas production

Expand Energy calls itself the largest independent natural gas producer in the United States by daily output 3. Its wells sit in the Haynesville shale of Louisiana and Texas, Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale, and the Marcellus and Utica shales of West Virginia and Ohio 3.

At the end of 2025 it had working interests in about 6,600 wells and operated roughly 99 percent of its daily output 3. In the third quarter of 2026 it ran 11 rigs and brought 59 wells into production 1.

Output that quarter included 6.9 billion cubic feet a day of gas, 17 thousand barrels of oil and 87 thousand barrels of natural gas liquids 1.

Where the revenue comes from

In 2025 natural gas sales brought in $7,433 million, oil $319 million and natural gas liquids $724 million 3. Gathering, transportation and marketing added $3,163 million, so about 62 percent of total revenue of $12,124 million came from gas sales (computed) 3.

The Haynesville shale produced the most gas in 2025 at 1,095 billion cubic feet, ahead of Northeast Appalachia at 958 billion 3.

Reserves and land

Proved reserves, the gas and oil the company's engineers report as recoverable under existing conditions, were 25,880 billion cubic feet equivalent at the end of 2025 3. Northeast Appalachia carried about 42 percent of them 3.

It reports about 4.2 million gross acres of leasehold, including 1.2 million net acres kept when it divested its Devonian Shale assets in 2016 3.

Marketing and Twin Eagle

Marketing means gathering gas from many owners, arranging pipelines and storage, and delivering it to customers 3. Twin Eagle, founded in 2010, markets more than 5 billion cubic feet a day and serves more than 1,000 customers in the United States and Canada 8.

The seller was Five Point Infrastructure, at a reported $1.25 billion 8. Twin Eagle added $196 million of revenue from 16 to 30 September, and the deal created $349 million of goodwill 2.

People

Danny Brown became president and chief executive on 26 October, and Wichterich returned to being non-executive chairman 5. Brown spent nearly 20 years at Anadarko Petroleum before running Chord Energy 5.

Marcel Teunissen is chief financial officer, and Sarah Grose became chief accounting officer on 8 October 21. Dan Turco moved from marketing chief to a commercial role focused on LNG, liquefied natural gas, after the Twin Eagle closing 6.

The company had about 1,600 employees at the end of 2025 and is moving its headquarters to Spring, Texas 3.

Rivals, risks and debt

It competes with major integrated oil companies and other independent gas and oil producers, some with larger resources 3. In 2025 one purchaser accounted for 11 percent of revenue 3.

The balance sheet showed long-term debt of $4,632 million at 30 September 2026 against $5,009 million at the end of 2025 1. On 6 October the lenders agreed to extend its credit facility by a year to 30 September 2031 18.

The company is still a party to its own Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, which settle claims from its earlier bankruptcy 2.

The umbrella, in words

The company sells under one name, Expand Energy 3. Its significant subsidiaries are Expand Operating, Expand Exploration, Expand Appalachia and Expand Gulf Coast in Oklahoma, and Expand Energy Marketing in Texas 4.

Twin Eagle is now owned through a merger with one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, and it keeps a separate credit facility with up to $1.4 billion of commitments 2. Southwestern also merged into the company in 2024 3.

It owns 35 percent of the venture behind the NG3 gas pipeline, a Haynesville shale project, which Williams gained when it acquired the partner, Momentum Sustainable Ventures 2. It also runs drilling rigs and oilfield services for its own wells 3.

For 2026 the company expects to run 11 to 12 rigs, invest about $3 billion in capital and produce 7.45 to 7.55 billion cubic feet equivalent a day 1.

After Twin Eagle, it raised its target for yearly extra free cash flow from marketing and commercial work to $750 million, an increase of 50 percent on the earlier goal, it said 8.

It plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.575 per share on 3 December to holders of record on 12 November 1. It has $1 billion of capacity left under an expanded repurchase authorization 1.

The third-quarter conference call was set for the morning of 28 October 1. The company has 12 months from the Twin Eagle closing to finish its purchase accounting 2.

Brown said LNG exports, growing power demand and new industrial investment are creating a greater need for reliable energy 5.