Reddit’s Oil Bet on Occidental Clashes With Wall Street’s Caution

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) has go a lawsuit survey successful however acold retail condemnation tin drift from nonrecreational caution. Shares closed astatine $57.50 connected Wednesday, up 39.8% twelvemonth to day and 6.9% successful the past week alone, sitting 14.8% beneath the 52-week high. Reddit's aggregate sentiment people for Occidental is presently pinned astatine 88, a "very bullish" speechmaking held crossed each 10 measured intervals this week. Wall Street sees the aforesaid setup and shrugs.

The Reddit Trade Behind Occidental's 88 Sentiment Score

Almost the full retail awesome traces backmost to a azygous r/options station titled "Oil is going to $150+ OXY $55 Jan 15th 2027 Calls," which climbed to 228 upvotes and 92 comments earlier losing traction Wednesday. The thesis is straightforward crude speculation alternatively than a cardinal case, and it landed arsenic Brent pushed supra $94 connected U.S. strikes against Iranian targets and Strait of Hormuz tensions.

The bullish framing rests connected existent concern milestones:

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• Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.06, comfortably beating the $0.58 consensus.

• Principal indebtedness chopped to $13.3 cardinal from $20.8 billion, funded by the OxyChem merchantability to Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) that closed January 2.

• Dividend lifted to $0.26 per share, much than 8% higher and doubled implicit 4 years.

Analysts Keep Trimming Occidental Price Targets

The merchantability broadside is not buying the euphoria. The statement people is $64.26, but the standing divided leans neutral. In the past 2 weeks, Stephens chopped its people to $69 from $73, HSBC to $68 from $73, and Jefferies trimmed to $56. Mizuho inactive expects a 6% downward bias to Q2 Street EBITDAX and currency travel estimates. On a trailing basis, Occidental trades astatine a P/E adjacent 77, though the guardant aggregate compresses to 10, illustrating however overmuch the bull lawsuit hinges connected crude cooperating.