We recently published a list of 11 Best American Energy Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) stands against other best American energy stocks to buy now.
On Friday, April 4, oil futures reached multiyear lows following China’s response to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. This sparks fear of a fall in demand for oil amid a full-blown trade war. The US benchmark for oil prices, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), fell over 7% to close at $61.99 per barrel and Brent crude futures dropped more than 6% to settle at $65.58. Crude has not traded at these levels since 2021.
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Crude losses worsened as China announced it would impose additional tariffs of 34% on US goods. This announcement came as a response to President Trump’s levies, which include increased duties on China-made imports.
President Trump’s tariffs saw financial markets react strongly and crude oil prices sinking as traders assessed the potential impact of a trade war on demand. Energy-related stocks were set to extend losses after dragging the market down with sell-offs in the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq.
Crude losses also accelerated because of a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, to increase supply approximately three times more than expected starting in May.
Angie Gildea, KPMG US energy leader, said that markets are still “digesting tariffs” and that the combination of higher oil supply and concerns about a weaker global economy is putting downward pressure on oil prices. She pointed out that this could lead to a new chapter in a volatile market.
Although energy was not included in the latest tariffs announced by the Trump administration on Wednesday, April 2, the escalation of a global trade war could hurt oil demand.
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the 11 best American energy stocks to buy now, we used stock screeners from Finviz and Yahoo Finance to find the largest energy companies. We sorted our results based on market capitalization and picked the top 25 American stocks. Next, we focused on the 11 stocks most favored by institutional investors. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database of more than 1,000 elite hedge funds. Finally, the 11 best American energy stocks to buy now were ranked in ascending order based on the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them as of Q4 2024.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A construction crew working on a solar energy system, revealing the company’s drive for success.
Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) was established in 2024 through the merger of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Southwestern Energy Company. It is currently the largest independent natural gas producer in the US. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company has a significant presence in Houston and has operations in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) is one of the best American stocks to buy in the energy sector.
The company is making moves to increase production and capture synergies. In Q4 2024, Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) operated an average of 12 rigs to drill 44 wells and brought 41 wells online. This helped the company achieve a daily production of about 6.41 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe). 91% of this was natural gas. In 2025, Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) aims to run 12 rigs and invest approximately $2.7 billion to increase production to about 7.1 Bcfe/d. The company plans to build incremental productive capacity by allocating an additional $300 million to run 15 rigs in the second half of 2025. Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) aims to achieve a production rate of approximately 7.2 Bcfe/d by the end of 2025 and further grow to an average of 7.5 Bcfe/d in 2026. Additionally, the company increased its 2025 expected annual synergy target by $175 million to $400 million. Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) plans to achieve the full $500 million in annual synergies by the end of 2026.
Overall, EXE ranks 7th on our list of best mid cap growth stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of EXE, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than EXE but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
