California Resources Corp (CRC) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $5.45B
• Dividend Yield: 3.56%
• Average Volume (3M): 853.43K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 10.7
• Beta (1Y): 0.93
• Revenue Growth: 33.85%
• EPS Growth: -34.08%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,550
• Sector: Energy
• Sector Strength: 52
• Industry: Oil & Gas Exploration & Production
• EPS (TTM): 0.47
• Shares Outstanding: 88,597,470
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 1,232,839
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 853,432
• PEG Ratio: -0.89
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.06
• Price to Sales (P/S): 1.08
• P/FCF Ratio: 7.16
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.23
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 1.92
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 5.13
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 4.98
• 1Y Price Target: $72.30
• Price Target Upside: 17.62% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 12
• EPS Forecast (FY): 1.58
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $3.43B

• Rating: 76 Outperform
• Price Target: $71.00 ▲(15.50% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/12/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/12/26

CRC’s score is driven primarily by improved financial resilience (notably stronger leverage metrics) and strong recent cash generation, complemented by bullish price momentum with the stock trading above key moving averages. Valuation is supportive with a low-teens P/E and a ~2.5% dividend yield. The main constraints on the score are profitability/margin compression and execution/regulatory risks highlighted in guidance (permitting and CCS approvals), with hedging limiting upside if oil prices rise.

Positive Factors

Stronger Balance Sheet

Material deleveraging and a larger equity base provide durable financial flexibility. Lower leverage reduces interest coverage risk, supports refinancing and buybacks, and gives management capacity to fund capex or weather commodity cycles without forcing distressed asset sales.

Robust Free Cash Flow

Sustained, material free cash flow enables a durable capital allocation framework: reinvestment (<50% of cash flow), shareholder returns, and debt refinement. Strong cash conversion underpins liquidity and funds development economics without reliance on external equity issuance.

Large Reserve Base & Low D/C Costs

A deep 2P inventory and low development cost profile support multi-decade development optionality and high project economics. Large reserves lower execution risk on production targets and improve ability to prioritize high-return projects over time.

Negative Factors

Margin Compression

Substantially lower margins versus prior years indicate heightened sensitivity to commodity cycles and narrower buffers for returns. Persistent margin compression would reduce reinvestment power, strain ROE, and make cash returns and debt targets harder to sustain in weaker price environments.

Regulatory & Permitting Risk

Key projects like commercial CCS and portions of the drill program depend on regulatory clears and permit cadence. Delays or denials would postpone diversification and production growth, compress projected cash flows, and increase execution risk on multi-year redevelopment investments.

Hedge Position Caps Upside

Extensive near-term hedging protects downside but structurally limits upside exposure to higher oil prices. This reduces the firm's ability to fully convert commodity rallies into incremental free cash flow, slowing deleveraging or growth acceleration when market prices exceed hedge levels.

California Resources Corp Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas company. The company explores for, produces, gathers, processes, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities. As of December 31, 2021, it had interests in approximately 1.9 million net mineral acres with proved reserves totaled an estimated 480 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company also engages in the generation and sale of electricity to the local utility and the grid. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Santa Clarita, California.

How the Company Makes Money

CRC primarily makes money by producing and selling hydrocarbons (crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids) from its operated oil and gas properties in California. Revenue is generated when produced volumes are sold under commodity sales arrangements to third-party buyers, with realized pricing generally linked to prevailing market benchmarks and adjusted for location differentials, product quality, and transportation/marketing terms. The company’s earnings are therefore driven by (1) production volumes from its fields, (2) commodity prices for oil and gas, and (3) operating costs and field-level efficiency (including lifting costs, maintenance, and regulatory compliance). Additional factors that can materially affect profitability include hedging activity used to manage exposure to oil and gas price volatility (which can create gains or losses depending on market movements versus hedge terms) and midstream/transportation arrangements that influence netbacks (the realized price after transportation and marketing costs). Significant partnerships: null.

California Resources Corp Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financials are supported by a stronger balance sheet (debt-to-equity improving to ~0.00 in 2025) and a strong 2025 cash-flow rebound (operating cash flow and free cash flow ~ $865M, ~1.0x net income). Offsetting these positives, profitability has compressed meaningfully versus prior years (net margin ~9.9% in 2025 vs ~12.7% in 2024; EBITDA margin down to ~17.1% in 2025), reflecting cyclical margin volatility.

Income Statement

Revenue has been positive over the past two years (2025: +3.9%, 2024: +5.1%) after a decline in 2023, indicating a choppy but improving top-line trend. Profitability is solid but has compressed versus prior years: net margin eased to ~9.9% in 2025 from ~12.7% in 2024 and ~20.0% in 2023, alongside lower EBITDA margin (~17.1% in 2025 vs ~36–38% in 2023–2024). Earnings remain positive and meaningful ($363M net income in 2025), but the margin volatility is a key risk for an E&P business tied to commodity cycles.

Balance Sheet

Leverage appears improved, with debt-to-equity falling from ~0.35 in 2024 to 0.00 in 2025 and equity rising to ~$3.67B, which strengthens financial flexibility. Returns on equity are healthy (~9.9% in 2025, ~10.6% in 2024), though down materially from 2021–2023 levels, signaling less efficient capital returns as profitability normalized. Overall, the balance sheet trends are a clear positive, with the main watch item being the sustainability of returns in a cyclical industry.

Cash Flow

Cash generation strengthened in 2025 with operating cash flow of ~$865M (up from ~$605M in 2024) and free cash flow also at ~$865M, representing strong conversion versus earnings (free cash flow at 1.0x net income in 2025). Free cash flow growth rebounded sharply in 2025 (+58.7%) after declining in 2024 (-23.9%), highlighting volatility but an improving near-term trajectory. Operating cash flow relative to earnings is solid but not consistently strong across years (coverage ~0.82 in 2025 vs ~1.05 in 2023), suggesting some variability in working capital and/or cash timing.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	3.60B	2.96B	2.81B	3.26B	2.56B
Gross Profit	1.43B	1.20B	1.33B	1.74B	1.25B
EBITDA	1.48B	1.08B	1.07B	1.05B	546.00M
Net Income	363.00M	376.00M	564.00M	524.00M	612.00M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	7.40B	7.13B	4.00B	3.97B	3.85B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	132.00M	372.00M	496.00M	307.00M	305.00M
Total Debt	1.36B	1.22B	610.00M	662.00M	637.00M
Total Liabilities	3.73B	3.60B	1.78B	2.10B	2.16B
Stockholders Equity	3.67B	3.54B	2.22B	1.86B	1.69B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	543.00M	350.00M	460.00M	311.00M	466.00M
Operating Cash Flow	865.00M	605.00M	645.00M	690.00M	660.00M
Investing Cash Flow	-725.00M	-1.08B	-175.00M	-317.00M	-161.00M
Financing Cash Flow	-380.00M	348.00M	-281.00M	-371.00M	-222.00M

California Resources Corp Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 61.47
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For CRC, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 61.47 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 59.89, above the 50-day MA of 53.81, and above the 200-day MA of 49.04, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 2.41 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 60.29 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 46.56 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for CRC.

California Resources Corp Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
CRC	76 Outperform	$5.45B	10.72	10.34%	3.56%	33.85%	-34.08%
MGY	75 Outperform	$5.50B	12.49	16.76%	2.74%	0.68%	-11.13%
VIST	71 Outperform	$6.20B	6.91	37.31%	―	50.79%	32.97%
CNX	66 Neutral	$6.00B	6.35	15.52%	―	43.30%	-43.07%
Sector *	65 Neutral	$15.17B	7.61	4.09%	5.20%	3.87%	-62.32%
MUR	62 Neutral	$5.26B	42.92	2.03%	4.15%	-13.92%	-68.34%
CRK	54 Neutral	$6.12B	17.04	16.88%	―	35.41%	―

California Resources Corp Corporate Events

California Resources Upsizes Notes Offering to Refinance Debt

On March 11, 2026, California Resources Corporation announced it had priced an upsized private offering of $350 million in additional 7.000% senior unsecured notes due 2034 at 100.500% of par, increased from a previously planned $250 million. The new notes, which align in terms with $400 million of existing 7.000% senior notes issued in 2025, will form a single series under the same indenture, with the offering expected to close on March 23, 2026, subject to customary conditions.

CRC plans to use the net proceeds from the new notes, together with cash on hand or borrowings under its revolving credit facility, to redeem $350 million of its higher-coupon 8.250% senior unsecured notes due 2029 at par plus an applicable premium and accrued interest. The move effectively refinances more expensive debt with longer-dated securities, which should lower the company’s interest burden over time and extend its debt maturity profile, while accessing capital through a Rule 144A/Reg S private placement aimed at institutional and non-U.S. investors.

The most recent analyst rating on (CRC) stock is a Buy with a $72.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on California Resources Corp stock, see the CRC Stock Forecast page.

California Resources Announces $250 Million Senior Notes Offering

On March 11, 2026, California Resources Corporation announced a private offering of $250 million of additional 7.000% senior unsecured notes due 2034, which will be fungible with its existing $400 million 7.000% senior notes under the same indenture and treated as a single series. The company plans to use the net proceeds, along with cash on hand and/or borrowings under its revolving credit facility, to redeem $250 million of its higher-coupon 8.250% senior unsecured notes due 2029, in a move that is expected to lower its interest costs and extend its debt maturity profile, with the redemption conditioned on completion of the new notes offering while the offering itself is not contingent on the redemption.

The most recent analyst rating on (CRC) stock is a Buy with a $84.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on California Resources Corp stock, see the CRC Stock Forecast page.

California Resources completes all-stock merger with Berry

On December 18, 2025, California Resources Corporation completed its previously announced all-stock merger with Berry Corporation, making Berry a wholly owned subsidiary and issuing approximately 5.6 million CRC shares, valued at about $253 million based on CRC’s December 17, 2025 closing price, to Berry’s former equity holders at a fixed exchange ratio of 0.0718 CRC share per Berry share. To facilitate the deal, CRC executed an eighth amendment to its credit agreement on December 15, 2025, modestly increasing total elected lender commitments from $1.45 billion to $1.46 billion and adding a new lender, while Berry’s restricted stock units and performance-based awards were either cashed out or converted into CRC equity awards. The transaction expands CRC’s long-lived, low-decline conventional asset base in its core San Joaquin Basin and adds strategic optionality in Utah’s Uinta Basin, with management highlighting expected synergies, enhanced cash flow durability and operating efficiencies, and confirming that the combined company will remain headquartered in Long Beach and led by CRC’s existing executive team, with detailed 2026 guidance to follow alongside year-end 2025 results.

The most recent analyst rating on (CRC) stock is a Buy with a $68.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on California Resources Corp stock, see the CRC Stock Forecast page.