TD Cowen Trims BP Price Target Amid Mixed Trading Update

TD Cowen lowered its price target on BP. (LON: BP.) (NYSE: BP) in a research note issued Thursday, as analysts weighed the oil major’s volatile mix of stronger refining margins against fresh impairment charges and softer production.

The revision follows BP’s pre-results trading update this week, in which the company flagged roughly $1 billion in second-quarter impairments tied to its gas and low-carbon energy transition businesses — on top of up to $5 billion in similar writedowns taken late last year.

New chief executive Meg O’Neill, who took the helm in April, has been steering BP back toward core oil and gas operations while emphasizing capital discipline, a shift that has coincided with boardroom turnover, including the departure of former chairman Albert Manifold.

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Despite the writedowns, BP said refining margins jumped to $29.60 a barrel from $16.90 in the prior quarter, and oil trading remained strong, helped by Brent crude averaging near $104 amid Middle East tensions. Net debt is expected to fall to $22–23 billion from $25.3 billion.

However, upstream production is set to decline to 2.17–2.22 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, partly due to disruption around the Strait of Hormuz.

BP’s London-listed shares closed around 510.2p on Thursday, up 0.5% after a volatile month, having traded as high as 546p in early June. BP reports full second-quarter results on August 4, which investors expect will clarify how much of the commodity windfall converts into durable cash flow.