Battalion Oil Corp (BATL)
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Our Rating
We found at least one documented issue that threatens the company itself — regardless of how the stock is currently valued.
The order of claims remains the dominant risk, even though the balance sheet now looks different: roughly $384 million of debt and preferred capital stand ahead of the common stock, and the preferred portion keeps compounding at 16 percent a year absent cash payment. On the SEC's official present-value calculation nothing is left for the common shareholders ($315.5 million minus $162.5 million minus $221.2 million = −$68.2 million), and the company keeps issuing new shares through its sales program. Anyone still looking should check four things in every report: does the reclassified equity of $157.1 million hold up against the ongoing loss? Does the NYSE American formally confirm the cure before November 30, 2026? Does the current ratio reach the newly required 1.00 as of September 30, 2026 (last reported: 0.90)? And how many more shares arrive through the $150 million program? The decision is yours.
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
For a long time Battalion Oil looked like a workout case: negative equity, a deadline from the NYSE American, no borrowing capacity left. The quarterly report as of March 31, 2026 flips that picture — $157.1 million of shareholders' equity instead of minus $32.8 million. The reason sits in the fine print: on March 25, 2026 the preferred holders lost control of the board, so $234.6 million of preferred capital moved into equity as an accounting matter. None of it was earned — in the first quarter of 2026 the common shareholders lost $64.8 million. Add a successful refinancing ($162.5 million at SOFR plus 6.50 percent through the end of 2029) and a new auditor. What remains is the old question: who is standing in line ahead of you?
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Basics
Performance
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
NeutralGeprüft am 25.07.2026: Die beiden vollständigen Geschäftsberichte (10-K) für 2025 und 2024 enthalten null Treffer für „artificial intelligence“, „machine learning“, „automation“, „algorithm“, „digital“ oder „data analytics“ — Battalion Oil ist ein reiner Onshore-Öl- und Gasförderer im Delaware Basin mit 40 Beschäftigten; „technology“ erscheint ausschließlich im Sinn von Bohr-, Fracking- und Reservoirtechnik, weder in Item 1 (Geschäft) noch in Item 1A (Risiken) noch in Item 1C (Cybersecurity) gibt es einen KI-Bezug.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-03-23 · 10-K 2025-03-31 · 10-Q 2026-05-13 · 10-Q 2025-11-13 · 10-Q 2025-08-14 · 10-Q 2025-05-14
Rated on July 25, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q2 | -0.53 | -50.90 | 49 | -9.50 | -0.20 | 30 | 9 |
| 2024: Q3 | 0.34 | 146.20 | 45 | -16.30 | 47.80 | -5 | -12 |
| 2024: Q4 | -1.88 | – | 50 | 5.10 | -44.70 | 7 | -6 |
| 2025: Q1 | -1.88 | -214.80 | 48 | -4.80 | 12.70 | 13 | -7 |
| 2025: Q2 | -0.65 | -23.10 | 43 | -12.80 | 11.20 | 10 | -23 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.96 | -384.50 | 43 | -4.20 | -1.70 | 28 | -25 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.76 | 59.50 | 32 | -35.00 | 5.60 | -12 | -17 |
| 2026: Q1 | -3.72 | -98.30 | 39 | -17.70 | -144.60 | 2 | -2 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Shareholders' equity stood at +$157.1 million as of March 31, 2026, after −$32.8 million as of December 31, 2025 — far above the NYSE American threshold of at most $4.0 million. None of it was earned: $234.6 million moved out of mezzanine and into equity because the preferred holders lost control of the board on March 25, 2026. A formal determination by the exchange that the deficiency has been cured had not been filed through July 1, 2026.
The refinancing worked: a new credit agreement of June 30, 2026 for $162.5 million (previously $208.1 million) maturing December 31, 2029, with a fixed margin of 6.50 percent over the reference rate SOFR instead of 7.75 to 8.50 percent, amortization starting only in the second quarter of 2027, and an additional — though uncommitted — delayed-draw facility of up to $175.0 million. Cash rose from $28.0 million to $46.4 million.
Ahead of the common shareholders as of March 31, 2026 stand roughly $384 million: $162.5 million of debt and $221.2 million of preferred capital that keeps compounding at 16.0 percent a year absent cash payment. That is $10.77 of seniority per common share — against a documented market value of roughly $80.7 million for the entire company. Conversion of the preferred could create 26,437,848 new common shares, more than exist today.
The $11.9 million of 2025 net income was not an operating profit: operating income was −$6.6 million, and what turned it was the single line of $45.3 million of hedging gains, of which $29.4 million were pure mark-to-market. How little that can be relied on was shown by the first quarter of 2026: a $48.0 million loss on the same contracts, a net loss of $56.5 million, and −$64.8 million or −$3.72 per share for the common shareholders.
The share count rose from 16,456,563 (December 31, 2025) to 22,018,849 (May 8, 2026) — through a private placement, pre-funded warrants, an acreage purchase paid in stock and a preferred conversion. Since May 5, 2026 an at-the-market program of up to $150.0 million has been running on top; the first 550,013 shares netted $1.6 million, arithmetically just under $3 apiece after $5.50 in March.
Reserves of 59.7 million barrels of oil equivalent last about 13.5 years but have fallen for a second year; the official PV-10 present value dropped 23 percent within a year to $351.7 million, leaving roughly $315.5 million after West Quito. Net of debt and preferred capital that is −$68.2 million; before the refinancing it was −$82.6 million. The West Quito sale, by contrast, fetched 1.66 times the official present value.
A single operating area, two buyers taking roughly four of five barrels sold (the annual report contradicts itself on these percentages: 86/79 in the business section, 83/86 in the notes), gas with negative revenue (first quarter of 2026: −$1.5 million) and a processor that shut down overnight on August 11, 2025. On top of that, the CEO is also the principal financial officer, and the 2026 accounts will be audited by BDO USA for the first time.
Battalion Oil is the textbook case for two confusions: price versus value — and booking versus earning. Shareholders' equity jumped from −$32.8 million (December 31, 2025) to +$157.1 million (March 31, 2026), but not through profit: $234.6 million of preferred capital moved out of mezzanine and into equity as an accounting matter because the preferred holders lost control of the board on March 25, 2026. What genuinely worked was the deleveraging from $208.1 million to $162.5 million and a refinancing through the end of 2029 at SOFR plus 6.50 percent. What genuinely remains is the preferred load: $221.2 million, 16 percent a year, $10.77 of seniority per share and up to 26,437,848 shares from a conversion. In the first quarter of 2026 the common shareholders lost $64.8 million. Not investment advice.
- Battalion Oil reached the research list not through a metrics scanner but through the Reddit hype scanner: rank 62, 8 mentions in 24 hours and 32 upvotes (ApeWisdom, as of July 25, 2026) — 24 hours earlier rank 42 with 15 mentions. The attention is cooling while the company keeps handing out shares through the at-the-market program.
- The data basis is the quarterly report (10-Q) as of March 31, 2026, the annual reports (10-K) for 2024 and 2025, and every SEC filing through July 1, 2026. Every present-tense statement has been checked against the most recent document that names the state in question. The company does not quantify the actual levels of its financial covenants — no statement about compliance can be derived from that.
- Deliberately not used: a market value of roughly $38 million shown by data services, which cannot be reconciled with the filing price of $3.93 (April 29, 2026) and 20,541,563 shares; likewise a reported 52-week high of $29.70 and a "price target" of $18.60 without any underlying analyst estimate. Analyses are evergreen — daily prices are not a reason to buy.
- A remarkable side find: on June 18, 2026 the board approved a bonus pool of $5.0 million payable solely upon a change of control, plus a program granting 10 to 20 percent of the increase in value from May 1, 2026 — and confirmed the vesting of 35,419 restricted stock units from 2020 because a change-of-control event has occurred. The quarterly report names "the sale of the Company" expressly as a liquidity alternative.
About the Company
Battalion Oil Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, production, exploration, and development of onshore oil and natural gas assets in the United States. The company holds interests in the Delaware Basin located in Pecos, Reeves, Ward, and Winkler counties in Texas. It also sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids primarily to independent marketers, oil and natural gas companies, and gas pipeline companies. The company was formerly known as Halcón Resources Corporation and changed its name to Battalion Oil Corporation in January 2020. Battalion Oil Corporation was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
| IPO Year | 2019 |
|---|
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 25, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.