$LNG · Cheniere Energy, Inc.
Cheniere Energy filed its Q3 FY2026 10-Q, reporting revenue of $6.173B (+39% YoY) and diluted EPS of $5.65 vs. $4.75 a year ago. For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, net income attributable to Cheniere common stockholders was $736M, down 76% from $3.028B in the prior-year period, driven primarily by a $2.591B decline in nine-month operating income as cost of sales surged to $11.964B from $6.438B. The company repurchased $739M in shares during Q3 and paid $0.555 per share in dividends.
- Q3 FY2026 revenue hit $6.173B, up 39% YoY from $4.441B, driven by LNG revenues of $6.099B.
- Q3 diluted EPS of $5.65 vs. $4.75 a year ago; nine-month diluted EPS collapsed to $3.51 from $13.59.
- Cost of sales nearly doubled YoY in Q3 to $3.207B from $1.750B, compressing operating income gains.
- Nine-month net income attributable to Cheniere fell 76% to $736M from $3.028B, largely on derivative mark-to-market swings.
- Share count shrank: 205.1M shares outstanding at quarter-end vs. 212.4M at year-end 2025 after $739M in Q3 buybacks.
Extended-hours trading shows LNG at $297.00, down 0.26% from the regular close of $297.77. The modest after-hours dip suggests the market had already priced in the derivative-driven nine-month earnings decline, with the strong Q3 revenue beat providing offset.
The 76% nine-month profit drop despite surging revenue exposes how derivative mark-to-market volatility can mask strong underlying LNG export operations.
Cheniere's 39% revenue growth reflects strong global LNG demand and higher volumes, consistent with the broader LNG export boom. However, the derivative-driven earnings compression highlights how commodity-price volatility can decouple reported net income from operational performance for LNG exporters with large hedge books.
Derivative asset values swung dramatically: total derivative assets fell to $892M from $4.672B at year-end 2025, with liquefaction supply derivatives dropping from $4.663B to $786M — a $3.9B decline that signals major mark-to-market volatility tied to gas price movements. FX derivative notional exposure nearly doubled to $1.5B from $783M.