** Shares of oil and gas producer Civitas Resources CIVI.N drop ~7% to $45.93 premarket
** Co misses Q4 profit estimate; posts adj. EPS of $1.78 vs est. of $1.98 - data compiled by LSEG
** Co to lay off 10% of its workforce and expects to reduce 2025 year-end net debt below $4.5 billion
** Says free cash flow generated in 2025 is anticipated to cover the payment of the base dividend and meet the company's year-end net debt target
** "We understand the rationale in protecting FCF in a volatile macro ... (but) a declining top-line story is tough to digest," TD Cowen analysts said in a note
** Brokerage Keybanc Capital Markets downgrades stock to "sector weight" from "overweight" and removes its PT of $84
** Lack of commentary on DJ Basin asset sales, abrupt termination of the COO and forecast of 4% y-o-y decline in oil production in 2025 are likely to weigh on shares over the next few months - Keybanc
** "We can't defend CIVI shares amid operational volatility and little deleveraging. We expect these items to overshadow positives in the report"
** As of last close, stock is up 7.5% YTD
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru)
((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))
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