Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on Atlas Energy (AESI) to $16 from $22 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm notes it’s been a tough two-day slide for Atlas Energy with shares falling 15% as investors understandably expressed their frustration over a significant earnings cut. While Piper acknowledges nobody is immune to the difficult backdrop NAM faces in an oil price shock as E&Ps announce rig cuts every day, putting pressure on future completion activity, it points to the execution issue on not delivering the previously messaged over 25mmtpa for 2025, leaving questions open around the success of the Dune Express as commissioning costs linger, and stubborn COGs/ton on lower volume, as the main pain points for investors.