Devon Energy
Q3 2022 Earnings Call
Nov 02, 2022, 11:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Welcome to Devon Energy's third quarter earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. This call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr.
Scott Coody, vice president of investor relations. Sir, you may begin.
Scott Coody -- Vice President, Investor Relations
Good morning, and thank you to everyone for joining us on the call today. Last night, we issued an earnings release and presentation that cover our results for the quarter and updated outlook. Throughout the call today, we will make references to the earnings presentation to support prepared remarks, and these slides can be found on our website. Also joining me on the call today are Rick Muncrief, our president and CEO; Clay Gaspar, our chief operating officer; Jeff Ritenour, our chief financial officer; and a few other members of our senior management team.
Comments today will include plans, forecasts, and estimates that are forward-looking statements under U.S. securities law. These comments are subject to assumptions, risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements. Please take note of the cautionary language and risk factors provided in our SEC filings and earnings materials.
With that, I'll turn the call over to Rick.
Rick Muncrief -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Scott. It's great to be here this morning, and we appreciate everyone taking the time to join us today. For Devon, the third quarter was another high-quality performance that demonstrated the flexibility of our strategy to create value in multiple ways. The team's disciplined execution of our operating plan advanced earnings and cash flow by healthy double-digit rates on a year-over-year basis.
Free cash flow was bouldered by capital efficiencies and effective supply chain management that drove capital spending below forecast. We rewarded shareholders with cash returns in the form of both dividends and buybacks that increased by nearly double over the past year. And we strengthened our asset portfolio by closing on two highly accretive bolt-on transactions that add to our ability to deliver sustainable long-term results, all in all, another great quarter of executing on our disciplined strategy. For my remaining comments today, I want to focus on the strategic moves we've taken recently to improve our business and the positive impact these actions have on our fourth quarter and our 2023 outlook.