Why SM Energy Stock Tanked 12% Today

Shares of U.S. exploration and production company SM Energy (NYSE: SM) fell as much as 12% in morning trading on Thursday. Although some of that was likely related to lower natural gas prices, at least a portion of the downbeat mood was driven by the energy company's earnings, which were released after the market closed on Wednesday.

SM Energy's top line came in at $320 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, down from $452 million in the same quarter of 2019. Despite that decline, cost reductions helped it turn in adjusted earnings of $0.02 per share, up from a loss of $0.04 per share in the prior year. But Wall Street had been projecting a profit of $0.07 per share, which means there was a pretty sizable miss. Revenue was a little light of expectations as well. Investors, not surprisingly, were displeased.

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Source Fool.com