Diamondback Q1 results - beats, bumps dividend, sticks to shareholder return plan
Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) released Q1 results after the close, beating earnings, generating strong free cash flow, announcing increased shareholder returns and sticking with the Company's previously announced capital and production plans:

Earnings - Diamondback (FANG) reported $5.20 in adjusted earnings per share for Q1, versus Street expectations for $4.67.

Cash flow - the Company generated $974m in free cash flow during the quarter, or ~4.3% of the current market cap.
Capital allocation - management increased the base dividend to $2.80 annually (2.1% yield), announced a variable dividend of $2.35, and repurchased ~$7m worth of shares.
Guidance - the Company maintained production and capital guidance, while indicating that Q2 oil production is likely to fall marginally from Q1 levels.

With regard to the current price environment, CEO Stice said, "we do not feel that today is the appropriate time to begin spending dollars ... increasing activity today would result in capital efficiency degradation and would not meaningfully contribute to the global supply and demand imbalance." Rather, Diamondback is sticking with plans to return 50% of free cash flow to shareholders. 
Ahead of Q1 results, investors were focused on management's response to current, elevated commodity prices. Diamondback (FANG) joins a list of peers, including Chevron (CVX), Hess (HES), Pioneer (PXD) and SM (SM) who are maintaining shareholder return plans, despite decreased production in Q2.