Reddit’s Oil Bet on Occidental Clashes With Wall Street’s Caution

Reddit’s Oil Bet on Occidental Clashes With Wall Street’s Caution Trey Thoelcke Thu, July 23, 2026 at 2:45 PM GMT+2 3 min read OXY RDDT CVX NVDA Quick Read OXY shares are up 40% year to date, with Reddit's 'very bullish' 88 sentiment driven almost entirely by one viral post targeting $150 oil. CVX runs the same Permian playbook as OXY but offers a higher dividend yield without the speculative retail premium tied to Buffett's name. Director Vicki Hollub sold 74,178 OXY shares near $59 on June 1 while analysts at Stephens, HSBC, and Jefferies all recently cut price targets.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Occidental Petroleum didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today . Occidental Petroleum ( NYSE:OXY ) has become a case study in how far retail conviction can drift from professional caution.

Shares closed at $57. 50 on Wednesday, up 39. 8% year to date and 6.

9% in the past week alone, sitting 14. 8% below the 52-week high. Reddit's aggregate sentiment score for Occidental is currently pinned at 88, a "very bullish" reading held across all 10 measured intervals this week.

Wall Street sees the same setup and shrugs. 24/7 Wall St. The Reddit Trade Behind Occidental's 88 Sentiment Score Almost the entire retail signal traces back to a single r/options post titled "Oil is going to $150+ OXY $55 Jan 15th 2027 Calls," which climbed to 228 upvotes and 92 comments before losing traction Wednesday.

The thesis is straightforward crude speculation rather than a fundamental case, and it landed as Brent pushed above $94 on U. S. strikes against Iranian targets and Strait of Hormuz tensions.

The bullish framing rests on real business milestones: Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Occidental Petroleum didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today . Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.

06, comfortably beating the $0. 58 consensus. Principal debt cut to $13.

3 billion from $20. 8 billion, funded by the OxyChem sale to Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK. B) that closed January 2.

Dividend lifted to $0. 26 per share, more than 8% higher and doubled over four years. Analysts Keep Trimming Occidental Price Targets OXY Analyst Ratings — 24/7 Wall St.

The sell side is not buying the euphoria. The consensus target is $64. 26, but the rating split leans neutral.

In the past two weeks, Stephens cut its target to $69 from $73, HSBC to $68 from $73, and Jefferies trimmed to $56. Mizuho still expects a 6% downward bias to Q2 Street EBITDAX and cash flow estimates. On a trailing basis, Occidental trades at a P/E near 77, though the forward multiple compresses to 10, illustrating how much the bull case hinges on crude cooperating.

Story Continues Chevron Sets the Sober Benchmark Peer Chevron ( NYSE:CVX ) runs the same Permian playbook with a higher yield and none of the Buffett-associated retail mystique, which is exactly why Occidental's Reddit crowd keeps piling in. The wrinkle worth tracking: former CEO Vicki Hollub disposed of 74,178 shares at nearly $59 on June 1, the largest insider sale in the recent window. Retail is trading a $150 oil narrative.

Insiders and analysts are trading the earnings report. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Occidental Petroleum didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today .

Contact editorial@247wallst. com for any questions or corrections.