Chesapeake, Anadarko Beat Street

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Two of the energy sector's biggest natural gas players reported tumbling third-quarter earnings after the market close on Monday, but shares were moving in opposite directions during premarket trading on Tuesday.

With plunging natural gas prices as a backdrop, Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy(CHK) said profit plummeted to $186 million, or 30 cents a share, compared to a year-ago total of $3.29 billion, or $5.62 a share.

After excluding items, though, Chesapeake said it earned an adjusted 70 cents a share. That beat the 65-cent a share consensus, according to Thomson Reuters.

Anadarko Petroleum(APC) reported earnings of $200 million, or 40 cents a share, versus $2.17 billion, or $4.58 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Adjusting for items, the natural gas concern said it lost 11 cents a share, though that bettered estimates of a 33-cent a share loss.

Anadarko also boosted its sales forecast for the year.

"As a result of both improved operating performance and the absence of severe weather in the Gulf of Mexico, we expect our full-year sales volumes to be approximately 220 million BOE, up from our original midpoint of 210 million BOE at the beginning of the year, without increasing capital spending," Anadarko CEO Jim Hackett said. "This equates to a forecasted growth rate of approximately 7 percent over our 2008 total sales volumes of 206 million BOE, while spending approximately 35 percent less capital on near-term projects."

Before the opening bell on Monday, Chesapeake shares were changing hands down $1, or 4.2%, at $23.14. Anadarko shares, on the other hand, were gaining 17 cents, or 0.3%, at $62.01.