New York, January 5, 2026, 10:25 EST — Regular session
- EQT shares fell about 4% as U.S. natural gas futures slid on a warmer mid-January outlook.
- Bernstein lifted its EQT price target, but traders stayed focused on the gas tape.
- The next key catalyst is the U.S. storage report due Thursday, Jan. 8.
EQT Corp shares fell 4.2% to $51.20 in morning trading on Monday, tracking a slide in U.S. natural gas prices at the start of the week.
The move matters because producers like EQT sell into a market where winter heating demand can swing quickly with weather forecasts. In January, a few degrees on the map can mean a very different balance between supply and demand.
Front-month Henry Hub natural gas futures — the nearest, most actively traded contract — were down about 3.3% at $3.498 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), a standard energy unit used in U.S. gas trading.
Weather is back in the driver’s seat. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center updated its 8–14 day outlook on Sunday for Jan. 12–18, a window traders use as a proxy for mid-month heating demand.
That softer demand view has pushed futures to the lowest since late October, Bloomberg reported early Monday, keeping pressure on gas-linked equities even as broader markets steadied.
On the stock-specific side, Bernstein analyst Bob Brackett raised EQT’s price target to $73 from $72 and maintained an “Outperform” rating, according to a note published by TheFly.
EQT’s slide was not isolated. Antero Resources fell 6.7% and Range Resources dropped 4.5%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund — an ETF designed to track natural gas futures — fell 6.2%.
The market’s macro read is straightforward: warmer forecasts, resilient U.S. output and the tug-of-war between domestic demand and liquefied natural gas export demand are setting the tone for 2026’s opening trades, as analysis published on Nasdaq.com noted.
“There’s also some concern internationally … talk of a potential glut,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group, in commentary cited by a Reuters-sourced market recap. TechStock²
The risk for bears is a fast flip back to colder forecasts. If temperature outlooks tighten or exports absorb more supply than expected, gas prices can rebound sharply and pull producers with them; if warmth persists alongside strong output, the downside pressure can linger.
Traders’ next hard datapoint is the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly natural gas storage report, due Thursday, Jan. 8 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern, a release that often resets short-term positioning.
