CHRD vs DVN: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CHRD and DVN share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CHRD and DVN exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Chord Energy drills and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across the Williston Basin, the Bakken and Three Forks acreage spread over North Dakota and eastern Montana. Today's company is the product of three combinations: Oasis Petroleum and Whiting Petroleum merged in 2022 to create Chord, ExxonMobil's XTO Williston package was bolted on in 2023, and Enerplus closed in May 2024. Scale is the point of all of it. Second-quarter 2026 volumes ran ~286.4 MBoepd, ~57.8% of it oil, and the operating story has shifted toward longer laterals, with 26 four-mile wells drilled to date and one reaching a measured depth of ~33,810 feet, the deepest in the basin.

Full CHRD guide

Devon Energy is a large US independent exploration and production company that finds and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its portfolio is anchored in the Delaware Basin (part of the Permian) and includes positions in the Anadarko Basin, Eagle Ford, Williston, and other onshore US plays. As a producer that sells raw commodities into global markets, Devon is largely a price-taker: its revenue, margins, and shareholder payouts are driven mainly by oil and gas prices and by how efficiently it can drill and complete wells, rather than by any single product or brand.

Full DVN guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CHRD drivers: A return framework tied to leverage, not to a promise; Longer laterals as the main cost lever.
• DVN drivers: Oil and gas prices drive the story; Coterra merger and Permian scale.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Crude price is the dominant variable and Chord has almost nothing else to lean on: with ~58% oil in the mix and a single producing basin, a sustained slide in WTI compresses revenue, free cash flow and the variable portion of the return framework at the same time. For DVN, the dominant risk is commodity price cyclicality: with revenue tied to oil and gas prices, a global slowdown, an OPEC+ supply shift, or weak natural gas prices can compress cash flow and shrink the variable dividend and buybacks quickly.

Pick CHRD if you believe its drivers more; DVN if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CHRD and DVN guides.

CHRD. Around ~9 times trailing earnings, Chord prices closer to a melting ice cube than a growth producer, which is the standard market treatment for oil-levered exploration and production names. Cash generation supports the arithmetic: ~$1.19 billion of trailing free cash flow against a ~$7.6 billion market value, with ~$1.5 billion of debt offset by ~$612 million of cash and leverage under 0.5x. Second-quarter 2026 net income of ~$525.2 million and adjusted EBITDA of ~$923.5 million show what the asset earns at a favourable price deck, which cuts both ways when the deck moves.

DVN. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting, especially since the Coterra merger recently reshaped the combined company's scale. For a commodity producer, a low P/E can mislead because it may reflect high-price-cycle earnings that will not repeat if oil and gas prices fall. Free cash flow, breakeven cost per barrel, and the sustainability of the variable dividend are more useful lenses than a trailing earnings multiple.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CHRD shows revenue (ttm) ~$5.96B, net income (ttm) ~$841M, eps (ttm) ~$14.81, free cash flow (ttm) ~$1.19B; DVN shows 2026 production guidance roughly 1.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (combined), including ~500,000 barrels of oil per day, 2026 capital spending ~$4.9 billion, with more than 60% directed to the Permian and roughly 31 rigs, shareholder returns framework targets returning up to ~70% of free cash flow via dividends and buybacks, coterra merger completed May 7, 2026; combined enterprise value reported around $58 billion.

CHRD and DVN are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CHRD and DVN exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.