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Baytex Energy (BTE) Sets 2026 Budget, Targets Production Growth

Baytex Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTE) is one of the best NYSE stocks under $5 to buy. On December 22, TD Cowen’s Menno Hulshof reaffirmed a Buy rating on Baytex Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTE) with a C$5.00 price target.

On the same day, Baytex Energy Corp. approved a 2026 exploration and development budget ranging from C$550 million to C$625 million. The company said this budget is designed to adapt to oil price fluctuations with about 45% of spending front-loaded in the first half of the year; that is assuming a $60 per barrel WTI price. The company aims for average annual production of 67,000 to 69,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2026, a 3% to 5% increase from 2025 levels. According to Baytex, roughly 55% of the budget will go to light oil assets and 45% to heavy oil assets.

Financially, the plan lowers the sustaining breakeven price to $52 per barrel. This will be supported by an optimized cost structure, strong liquidity, and an extended C$750 million credit facility maturing in 2030. Over a three-year outlook, assuming a $60-65 WTI price, the company expects sustainable growth through investments in exploration and infrastructure.

Separately, on December 1, the company launched a cash tender offer to buy back its 7.375% senior notes due 2032. It also outlined plans to fully redeem its 8.500% senior notes due 2030. This, it said, is part of efforts to optimize its debt structure using funds from divesting US assets.

Baytex Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTE) is a Canadian independent oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas. Its operations span across Western Canada and the Eagle Ford shale in Texas. And its production mix is heavily weighted toward crude oil.

While we acknowledge the potential of Baytex Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTE) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BTE and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 11 Best Healthcare AI Stocks to Buy Now and 11 Best Hydrogen Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

A few years from now, you’ll wish you’d owned this stock.

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Wall Street calls this $3 stock a “Melting Ice Cube.” They said the same thing about BTI before it returned 90%.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

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We looked under the cover and realized they were wrong.

We alerted our subscribers, and BTI returned 90% in just 16 months.

Now if you had invested just $10,000 in BTI in June 2024, you’d be sitting on $19,000 in October 2025.

Today, we have identified a nearly identical pattern in a digital-first giant trading at $3.

While the market panics over a surface-level revenue decline, our PhD-led research shows management has actually surgically cut $100 million in waste to focus on high-margin growth.

This pattern is a hallmark of our 16.5% annual return track record. The current opportunity offers a 400% upside potential—dwarfing even our 90% BTI return.

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