Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) stock rose 8.67% (As on May 3, 11:19:42 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted mixed results for the first quarter of FY 22. Production averaged 575,000 oil-equivalent barrels (Boe) per day in the first quarter, with oil accounting for 50 percent of the volume. This performance was driven by the company’s Delaware Basin asset which accounted for nearly 70 percent of total production. Devon estimates that first-quarter production was reduced by 15,000 Boe per day, or 3 percent, due to winter weather curtailments. The company’s capital activity consisted of 19 operated drilling rigs and 5 completion crews in the quarter. This level of investment resulted in an upstream capital spend of $501 million, which is equivalent to 24 percent of Devon’s full-year budget. Devon’s largest field-level cost category, lease operating and transportation costs, totaled $7.44 per Boe in the quarter. Effective cost management efforts and efficient field-level operations drove per-unit rates 3 percent below guidance expectations for the quarter. The benefits of an oil-weighted production mix, coupled with low operating costs, expanded field-level cash margins to $49.45 per Boe in the quarter. This represents a 17 percent improvement from the fourth quarter of 2021.

DVN in the first quarter of FY 22 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1.88, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $1.74, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company had reported the adjusted revenue of $3.81 billion in the first quarter of FY 22, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $4.02 billion.

Additionally, operating cash flow totaled $1.8 billion, a 14 percent increase from the prior quarter. Based on the first-quarter financial performance, Devon declared a fixed-plus-variable dividend payout of $1.27 per share payable on Jun. 30, 2022. This payout is a 27 percent increase from the previous quarter and includes a $0.11 per share benefit from divestiture contingency payments received in the quarter. The company also expanded its share-repurchase authorization by 25 percent to $2.0 billion. As of the end of April, Devon repurchased 19.1 million shares at a total cost of $891 million. The company continued to strengthen its investment-grade financial position in the quarter, with cash balances increasing by $354 million to a total of $2.6 billion. Devon intends to further improve its financial strength by retiring low-premium debt of approximately $1.0 billion in 2022 and 2023.