Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CRK) stock was higher in Tuesday’s holiday-shortened trading session, with the natural-gas-focused producer drawing renewed attention as investors weigh a major pending asset sale, a shifting analyst backdrop, and a 2026 commodity-price outlook that could materially influence cash flow. [1]
Shares of CRK traded around $22.7 and were up roughly 4% in the early afternoon in New York on December 23, 2025, according to real-time market data trackers—though trading volume appeared unusually light, a common feature of the pre-Christmas week. [2]
CRK stock today: a holiday-week pop on unusually light volume
The most visible Comstock-specific headline on Dec. 23 was a momentum-style move: MarketBeat reported CRK rising about 4% intraday while noting volume of roughly 75,000 shares at the time of its publication—far below typical daily activity. In thin sessions, modest buying (or a lack of sellers) can amplify price swings. [3]
Still, the move is landing against a backdrop of genuine fundamentals investors have been tracking for weeks: Comstock’s late-2025 operational updates, a sizeable divestiture expected to close in December, and wide dispersion among Wall Street price targets. [4]
The big catalyst: Comstock’s planned $430 million Shelby Trough divestiture
One of the central near-term narratives for Comstock Resources stock is the company’s agreement to sell its Shelby Trough properties in East Texas for $430 million in cash, a transaction Comstock said is expected to close in December 2025. The company has stated it intends to use proceeds to reduce long-term debt, making this a balance-sheet story as much as an operational one. [5]
In its third-quarter results release, Comstock described the package as interests in 155 (74.5 net) producing wells and about 36,000 net acres that are “primarily undeveloped,” with production net to Comstock of about 9.3 MMcf/day in September 2025. [6]
In its Form 10‑Q for the period ended Sept. 30, 2025, Comstock also disclosed it expected to recognize a pre-tax gain from the sale (covering unproved property and other property/equipment portions) in a range of roughly $290 million to $310 million, underscoring the transaction’s potential accounting impact in addition to the cash proceeds. [7]
Who is the buyer?
Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Apex Natural Gas, owned by hedge fund Citadel, had agreed to buy Comstock’s Texas natural gas assets for about $430 million, citing people familiar with the matter. (Comstock’s own filings and releases have described the buyer as unaffiliated/undisclosed, so investors should treat the buyer identity as reported—not yet confirmed directly by the company in the materials cited here.) [8]
Earnings and fundamentals: strong margins, but hedging and leverage matter
Comstock’s most recent detailed financial snapshot (third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025) showed improved results tied to higher natural gas prices and the company’s hedge book—alongside reminders that Comstock remains capital-intensive and leveraged. [9]
Key Q3 figures from Comstock’s results release included:
- Natural gas and oil sales (including realized hedging gains): $335.0 million
- Operating cash flow (excluding changes in working capital): $190.4 million
- Adjusted EBITDAX: $249.1 million
- Adjusted net income: $27.9 million (or $0.09 per diluted share) [10]
Comstock also reported it realized $2.99 per Mcf after hedging on Q3 natural gas production of 112 Bcf. Importantly, the company noted that GAAP net income included a large unrealized gain on hedging contracts tied to changes in future natural gas prices—meaning headline earnings can look very different depending on whether an investor focuses on GAAP net income or adjusted metrics. [11]
On the balance sheet, Comstock reported long-term debt of about $3.126 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025 and cash of about $19.2 million—figures that help explain why the market is so focused on the $430 million divestiture and its intended use for debt reduction. [12]
A final nuance that matters for valuation debates: despite solid operating cash flow, Comstock reported a free cash deficit in Q3 after factoring in exploration & development capital expenditures and midstream spending (partially offset by midstream partner contributions). That “spend ahead of cash flow” posture is one reason the stock can be especially sensitive to changes in natural gas prices and financing conditions. [13]
Operations: Western Haynesville wells remain a headline driver
Comstock is best known as a Haynesville operator, and its Western Haynesville story continues to shape investor expectations—particularly because the region’s economics can look very different depending on drilling cost, well productivity, and takeaway access to Gulf Coast markets.
In Q3, Comstock said three Western Haynesville wells were turned to sales, averaging 8,566 feet of lateral length and an average initial production rate of 32 MMcf/day per well. In its “Legacy Haynesville” area, Comstock said it had turned 28 wells to sales year-to-date in 2025, averaging 11,919 feet laterals and 25 MMcf/day per well initial production rate. [14]
Those are strong “deliverability” numbers on paper—and they help explain why Comstock gets mentioned whenever the market starts gaming out a higher-for-longer natural gas tape.
Analyst forecasts on Dec. 23: “Hold” consensus, but price targets are all over the place
If you’re trying to understand CRK stock sentiment as of Dec. 23, 2025, the key word is dispersion.
StockAnalysis.com, summarizing coverage from 10 analysts, showed a consensus “Hold” rating and an average 12‑month price target around $21.9, with targets ranging from $8 on the low end to $34 on the high end. [15]
The same source also lists several of the most recent notable analyst actions that have shaped the current spread, including:
- Mizuho maintaining a Hold stance while raising its target from $21 to $29 (Dec. 12, 2025)
- UBS maintaining a Sell/Strong Sell stance while lifting its target from $16 to $18 (Dec. 12, 2025)
- Piper Sandler maintaining a Sell stance while cutting its target from $9 to $8 (Nov. 18, 2025)
- Clear Street initiating coverage with a bullish rating and a $26 target (Oct. 23, 2025) [16]
Investing.com’s consensus snapshot similarly characterized overall sentiment as Neutral, with an average target around $20.57 and a published range that also bottoms at $8. [17]
What analysts are effectively debating
The tug-of-war isn’t mysterious:
- The bull case leans on improving natural gas fundamentals, Gulf Coast demand growth, and Comstock’s well productivity—plus the potential for the $430 million divestiture to reduce leverage.
- The bear case emphasizes the company’s leverage profile, historically heavy reinvestment (and periods of free cash deficits), and the fact that natural gas is famously allergic to smooth price trends.
Those competing narratives can coexist—hence the wide target range.
Technical and momentum read-throughs: RS Rating back above 80
Beyond fundamentals, some market participants are tracking CRK through the lens of price momentum.
Investor’s Business Daily reported that Comstock’s Relative Strength (RS) Rating moved into the 80+ zone in mid-December—often interpreted by technical traders as a sign the stock is outperforming the broader market over a 52‑week window, even if it doesn’t yet present a classic “buy point” pattern. [18]
This kind of coverage doesn’t replace balance-sheet math, but it does help explain why CRK can attract incremental flows when natural gas names start heating up.
The 2026 natural gas outlook: why macro forecasts matter to CRK stock
Comstock’s sensitivity to gas prices is the obvious lever, and 2026 forecasts are becoming more prominent in late-2025 coverage because LNG export growth and power demand narratives are re-entering the center of the market conversation.
In a broader commodities outlook note summarized by Reuters, Goldman Sachs projected U.S. natural gas prices (Henry Hub) at about $4.60/mmBtu in 2026 and $3.80/mmBtu in 2027 (as incentives for U.S. production growth). [19]
For a Haynesville-heavy producer like Comstock—where realized pricing, basis differentials, hedging coverage, and drilling pace interact in complicated ways—macro forecasts don’t translate linearly into earnings. But directionally, higher benchmark pricing expectations tend to make leverage look more manageable and can justify more optimistic price targets.
Ownership spotlight: Jerry Jones’ outsized influence
One factor that makes Comstock Resources unusual among U.S. E&Ps is its control dynamics.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has invested over $1 billion into Comstock and controls roughly 71% of the company, with the Western Haynesville described as a major strategic bet despite the region’s difficult drilling conditions. [20]
For investors, concentrated ownership can cut both ways: it can enable long-cycle strategic execution, but it can also affect governance expectations and the company’s willingness to prioritize shareholder returns versus reinvestment.
What investors are watching next (late Dec. 2025 checklist)
Heading into the final stretch of 2025, the next set of catalysts for Comstock Resources stock looks fairly clear:
- Confirmation of the Shelby Trough sale closing (and details on final adjustments, buyer, and timing of debt repayment). [21]
- Updated leverage and liquidity metrics after any debt reduction tied to sale proceeds. [22]
- 2026 capital program signals—how hard Comstock plans to push activity in Haynesville/Western Haynesville relative to expected pricing. [23]
- Natural gas price volatility into winter and beyond—because, as always, the commodity is the hidden narrator of every CRK chart. [24]
Bottom line for Dec. 23, 2025
Comstock Resources stock’s Dec. 23 move looks less like a single-news catalyst and more like a holiday-week expression of the same thesis investors have been circling: a leveraged, high-beta natural gas producer with strong well results, a potentially meaningful near-term balance-sheet event, and a wide range of analyst outcomes depending on where gas prices and capital discipline land in 2026. [25]
References
1. www.marketbeat.com, 2. stockanalysis.com, 3. www.marketbeat.com, 4. www.globenewswire.com, 5. www.globenewswire.com, 6. www.globenewswire.com, 7. www.sec.gov, 8. www.bloomberg.com, 9. www.globenewswire.com, 10. www.globenewswire.com, 11. www.globenewswire.com, 12. www.globenewswire.com, 13. www.globenewswire.com, 14. www.globenewswire.com, 15. stockanalysis.com, 16. stockanalysis.com, 17. www.investing.com, 18. www.investors.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.wsj.com, 21. www.globenewswire.com, 22. www.globenewswire.com, 23. www.globenewswire.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. www.marketbeat.com
