APA vs EXE vs CNQ Stock Comparison

Apa, Expand Energy and Canadian Natural Resources Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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APA APA Corp
$50.79 +18.8% 1M +117.6% 1Y
Market cap
$18.25B
P/E
10.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.61B
Div. yield
0.02%
Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Energy
2 wins
EXE EXPAND ENERGY Corp
$94.62 +9.0% 1M -8.9% 1Y
Market cap
$21.36B
P/E
7.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.92B
Div. yield
0.03%
Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Energy
5 wins
CNQ CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES Ltd
$54.07 +14.0% 1M +71.7% 1Y
Market cap
$115.38B
P/E
14.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$33.47B
Div. yield
-0.03%
Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Energy
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Expand Energy leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Expand Energy 5, Canadian Natural Resources 4, Apa 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAPAEXECNQLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $18.25B $21.36B $115.38B CNQ
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 10.9x 7.8x 14.3x EXE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 7.7x 10.5x 11.3x APA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -16.1% +28.2% +6.7% EXE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 19.5% 19.8% 24.0% CNQ
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 12.1% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 0.7x 0.3x CNQ
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.03% -0.03% EXE
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +117.6% -8.9% +71.7% APA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.4%/yr +7.4%/yr +20.8%/yr CNQ
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.9% 30.3% 31.0% EXE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 73/100 79/100 76/100 EXE

Percentile Scorecard

APAEXECNQ

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAPAEXECNQ
Valuation 77 #24 of 99 94 #7 of 99 78 #23 of 99
Growth 75 #25 of 97 98 #3 of 97 78 #22 of 97
Profitability 93 #8 of 96 78 #22 of 96 85 #15 of 96
Financial Health 52 #50 of 102 64 #37 of 102 94 #7 of 102
Shareholder Returns 71 #23 of 76 60 #31 of 76 43 #44 of 76
Overall 73 79 76
  • APA ranked among 103 companies in Oil and Gas Upstream
  • EXE ranked among 103 companies in Oil and Gas Upstream
  • CNQ ranked among 103 companies in Oil and Gas Upstream

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAPAEXECNQSPY
1 month +18.8%+9.0%+14.0% -0.2%
3 months +45.4%+6.9%+22.4% +3.9%
6 months +31.4%-2.4%+16.6% +8.2%
Year to date +107.6%-14.3%+59.7% +12.9%
1 year +117.6%-8.9%+71.7% +12.3%
3 years +26.6%+10.3%+70.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year +8.2%+3.3%+19.5% +23.3%
5 years +87.6%+42.8%+157.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +13.4%+7.4%+20.8% +10.9%
10 years -17.7%—+239.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year -1.9%—+13.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAPAEXECNQSPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.9%30.3%31.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.5%29.2%32.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.99-0.14-0.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.68-0.292.31 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -72.7%-32.9%-38.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.1%-23.0%-1.9% -1.2%
52-week high $51.90$122.89$55.10 $779.14
52-week low $21.66$84.09$30.59 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAPAEXECNQ
P/E now vs peer median 10.7xmedian 13.0x 8.0xmedian 13.0x 14.1xmedian 13.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.1x 1.6xmedian 2.1x 3.4xmedian 2.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 5.9x 4.0xmedian 5.9x 3.9xmedian 5.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 8.4xmedian 11.1x 8.4xmedian 11.1x 6.0xmedian 11.1x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.5x 1.1xmedian 1.5x —median 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median -19.63median 2.27 -0.25median 2.27 0.26median 2.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAPAEXECNQ
Revenue $8.61B $13.92B $33.47B
Gross profit $7.81B $14.56B $26.58B
Operating income $2.31B $3.58B $24.77B
Net income $1.98B $2.75B $8.48B
Free cash flow $2.11B $2.59B $18.68B
R&D $142.00M $65.00M –
EPS (diluted) $4.74 $11.88 $3.83
Cash & equivalents $444.00M $118.00M $1.84B
Total debt $17.14B $4.63B $49.14B
Shares (diluted) 354.00M 231.73M 2.10B
Enterprise value $16.53B $17.74B $112.38B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAPAEXECNQ
P/E 10.7x 8.0x 14.1x
P/FCF 8.4x 8.4x 6.0x
P/Operating cash flow 3.9x 3.9x 8.7x
P/S 2.1x 1.6x 3.4x
P/B 2.2x 1.1x –
P/Tangible book 2.2x 1.2x –
EV/EBITDA 4.7x 4.0x 3.9x
EV/EBIT 9.1x 7.4x 5.0x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 1.9x 3.7x
EV/FCF 10.0x 10.2x 6.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 4.7x 4.7x 9.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -19.63 -0.25 0.26

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAPAEXECNQ
Revenue growth (1Y) -16.1% 28.2% 6.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -2.3% 8.5% -2.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -6.7% 140.5% 5.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 1.5% 22.2% -3.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 3,511% 166.9% -26.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 10.4% -8.3% -15.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 54.0% 217.5% 42.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.1% -20.3% 14.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 58.2% 228.7% 408,311%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -0.5% -31.9% 53.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -2.7% 40.7% 30.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 23.9% 5.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 33.2% 76.3% 33.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 38.0% 13.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAPAEXECNQ
Gross margin 90.8% 104.6% 79.4%
EBITDA margin 52.3% 46.8% 94.6%
Operating margin 26.8% 25.7% 74.0%
Pretax margin 36.1% 24.8% 32.2%
Net margin 19.5% 19.8% 24.0%
FCF margin 24.6% 18.6% 55.8%
Operating cash flow margin 52.6% 40.5% 38.5%
Return on equity 25.8% 14.2% –
Return on assets 11.0% 9.5% –
Return on invested capital – 12.1% –
Return on capital employed 14.8% 14.0% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 2.0x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% 1.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAPAEXECNQ
Debt / assets 20.8% 15.6% –
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 0.7x 0.3x
Debt / FCF 1.8x 1.8x 0.6x
Liabilities / assets 55.8% 34.4% –
Equity / assets 44.2% 65.6% –
Interest coverage 10.6x 17.4x 38.3x
Current ratio 0.9x 0.9x –
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.4x –
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.0x –
Altman Z-score 1.99 2.40 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAPAEXECNQ
Dividend yield 2.0% 2.4% 5.8%
Net buyback yield 1.3% 4.0% -0.3%
Shareholder yield 3.3% 6.5% 5.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.9% 19.9% 42.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) 16.8% 21.1% 19.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) -3.0% -28.1% -8.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.8% -13.1% -111.0%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAPAEXECNQ
Forward P/E 7.7xFY2026 10.5xFY2026 11.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.59FY2026 $9.02FY2026 $4.80FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +74.8%FY2026 +47.9%FY2026 +85.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -17.0% -14.2% -15.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.94BFY2026 $12.26BFY2026 $38.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -3.1%FY2026 +1.2%FY2026 +35.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% +6.9% -6.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAPAEXECNQ
Held by institutions 100.0% 92.1% 71.6%
Institutions holding 809 850 745
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.2% +0.9% -5.0%
Institutions buying 432 473 386
Institutions selling 244 264 242
Buyers to sellers 1.77 1.79 1.60

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

APAEXECNQ
APA 1.00 0.38 0.72
EXE 0.38 1.00 0.40
CNQ 0.72 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, APA, EXE and CNQ?

Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) is the largest by market capitalisation: Apa (APA) $18.25B, Expand Energy (EXE) $21.36B, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) $115.38B.

Which stock is cheaper, APA, EXE and CNQ?

Expand Energy (EXE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Apa (APA) 10.9x, Expand Energy (EXE) 7.8x, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) 14.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Apa (APA) is cheapest (Apa (APA) 7.7x, Expand Energy (EXE) 10.5x, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) 11.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Expand Energy (EXE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Apa (APA) -16.1%, Expand Energy (EXE) +28.2%, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) +6.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) has the highest net margin (Apa (APA) 19.5%, Expand Energy (EXE) 19.8%, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) 24.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Apa (APA) returned the most: Apa (APA) +117.6%, Expand Energy (EXE) -8.9%, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) +71.7%. Over five years, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) compounded fastest (Apa (APA) +13.4%/yr, Expand Energy (EXE) +7.4%/yr, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) +20.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Expand Energy (EXE) has the highest dividend yield: Apa (APA) 0.02%, Expand Energy (EXE) 0.03%, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) -0.03%. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Expand Energy (EXE) has been the steadiest (Apa (APA) 43.9%, Expand Energy (EXE) 30.3%, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) 31.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, APA, EXE and CNQ?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Expand Energy (EXE) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.