SM Energy, Liberty Energy, Atlas Energy Solutions, Select Water Solutions, and ProPetro shares are falling, what you need to know
What happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after crude oil benchmarks retreated following U.S. midterm election results and shifting foreign policy developments concerning Iran.
CNBC reported that both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude benchmarks dropped alongside European natural gas prices as investors weighed the broader market implications of a Democratic sweep of Congress. Traders closely analyzed potential policy shifts alongside changing expectations regarding diplomatic pathways versus renewed military strikes involving Iran. Geopolitical tensions in key crude-producing regions often inject an uncertainty premium into commodity prices, and signals pointing toward diplomacy can quickly alleviate supply tightness concerns.
Because integrated oil producers and exploration companies rely directly on robust benchmark pricing to sustain upstream cash flows and revenue growth, the retreat in commodity futures put downward pressure across energy equities.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Mixed or offshore upstream E&P company SM Energy (NYSE:SM) fell 14.4%. Is now the time to buy SM Energy? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Oilfield services company Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) fell 12.2%. Is now the time to buy Liberty Energy? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Oilfield services company Atlas Energy Solutions (NYSE:AESI) fell 16.8%. Is now the time to buy Atlas Energy Solutions? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Oilfield services company Select Water Solutions (NYSE:WTTR) fell 11.3%. Is now the time to buy Select Water Solutions? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Oilfield services company ProPetro (NYSE:PUMP) fell 9.7%. Is now the time to buy ProPetro? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming in on Atlas Energy Solutions (AESI)
Atlas Energy Solutions’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 45 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Atlas Energy Solutions and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was about 1 month ago when the stock gained 13.6% on the news that the company announced that its indirect subsidiaries executed equipment purchase agreements with Wyoming Machinery Company to secure power generation and infrastructure for data center projects, backed by cost reimbursement agreements with a frontier artificial intelligence lab. In a Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company reported that its indirect subsidiary Atlas Energy Solutions Shackelford 1, LLC signed an agreement on September 18, 2026, to purchase balance-of-plant equipment from Wyoming Machinery Company for a power generation project.
According to the company announcement, the equipment purchases and reimbursement contracts are designed to secure power generation and necessary infrastructure for data center projects. Securing scarce power generation equipment and electrical infrastructure addresses the primary bottleneck facing data center developers: multi-year utility interconnect queues. By pairing long-lead equipment procurement with cost reimbursement from the AI off-taker, the company secures generation assets while transferring upfront capital outlay and carrying risk.
Atlas Energy Solutions is down 30.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $6.76 per share, it is trading 65.8% below its 52-week high of $19.75 from May 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Atlas Energy Solutions’s shares at the IPO in March 2023 would now be looking at an investment worth $398.82.
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