- Truist initiates coverage with a Buy rating and a $24 price target.
- Oil prices drop sharply on easing US-Iran tensions, adding pressure to energy stocks.
- Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for Permian slipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ one month ago.
As oil prices slide on hopes of easing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, one shale player is drawing bullish attention from Wall Street. On Tuesday, Truist initiated coverage on Permian Resources (PR), stating the company is one of the lowest-cost operators in the sector.
Truist initiated coverage with a ‘buy’ rating and a $24 price target, representing a 16% upside from the stock’s last closing price. The analyst noted that Permian has been an “execution machine” over the past several years, delivering exceptional returns and habitual oil production “beats”.
The firm expects the shale player to be a merger-and-acquisition target to help maintain its low-cost structure.
Geopolitical Tensions Sink Oil Prices
The bullish call comes amid declining crude oil prices. Oil prices fell on Tuesday, with Brent sinking as much as 7% towards $97 a barrel.
The US reportedly drafted a 15-point plan aimed at ending the conflict with Iran, delivered by Pakistan, which could have included a prohibition on Iran ever obtaining a nuclear weapon or enriching radioactive material for civilian purposes.
Permian’s Q4 Sees “Strong Cash Control’
In February, Permian Resources reported average daily crude oil production for the fourth quarter of 2025, which rose 1% from the prior quarter to 188,633 barrels per day. The company also said that drilling and completion costs during the quarter fell 14% year over year to $700 per lateral foot.
Permian added that it saw “strong cost control” in the quarter, with total controllable cash costs declining by $0.12 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) from the previous quarter to $7.24 per boe.
Other Analyst Upgrades Add To Optimism
On March 20, JPMorgan raised Permian’s price target to $26 from $22, and maintained an ‘overweight rating’, citing that oil market fundamentals "shifted on a dime" due to the Middle East conflict.
JPMorgan said that the war “significantly” reduced global productive capacity and "quickly evaporated the risk" of a supply glut in 2026 following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz
The firm said it would not be surprised to see a geopolitical risk premium embedded in the long end of the oil price curve.
What Did Stocktwits Users Say?
Stocktwits sentiment on Permian stock has shifted to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ a month ago, while the stock sits roughly 47% higher year-to-date.
“$PR Outperformed EVERY other Oil Stock on my Watchlist and Standing tall at $20.00 Per Share, today. You all need to give yourselves a good pat on the back,” one user wrote Tuesday
Another bullish user said, “$PR As an unfriendly reminder ...when oil goes down, PR can still go up. If oil is at say ...$78+...PR has to burn money just to get to their vaults,”
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