Chevron and ExxonMobil Both Beat Q3 Estimates as Record Refining Margins Drive Outsized Profits

Chevron and ExxonMobil each surpassed third-quarter 2026 earnings expectations on Friday, powered by record U.S. refinery output and sharply higher diesel prices following attacks on Russian and Middle Eastern refining infrastructure that forced American refiners to fill the supply gap.

Chevron posted adjusted EPS of $5.28, beating the $4.93 estimate, on revenue and other income of $67.80 billion against a consensus of $62.55 billion. Reported net income reached $9.9 billion, nearly tripling year over year. Downstream earnings came in at $4.93 billion, well above the $4.49 billion estimate, as U.S. refinery throughput hit a record 1.09 million barrels per day at nearly 98% utilization. Worldwide production reached 3,980 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, topping the 3,926 estimate. Cash flow from operations was $16.0 billion, ahead of the $15.08 billion consensus, with adjusted cash flow excluding working capital at $16.6 billion. Upstream earnings of $5.70 billion fell short of the $6.19 billion estimate. Chevron held its full-year capital expenditure guidance at the low end of its $18 billion to $19 billion range, declared a quarterly dividend of $1.78 per share, and returned $2.5 billion in buybacks and $3.5 billion in dividends during the quarter. The company also announced a planned $7 billion investment in Venezuela over the next five years and noted it had cut Bakken midstream costs by approximately 50%. CVX shares rose about 1.25% in premarket trading.

ExxonMobil reported adjusted EPS of $4.23, beating estimates of $4.08 to $4.13, on total revenue and other income of $113.16 billion versus the $105.36 billion consensus. Production reached 4,496 thousand oil-equivalent barrels per day, above the 4,440 estimate. Cash flow from operations was $25.7 billion, with free cash flow of $19.1 billion. ExxonMobil raised its quarterly dividend by 3.9% to $1.07 per share and signaled $20 billion in share repurchases for 2027. The company maintained its full-year net cash capital expenditure guidance of $27 billion to $29 billion and cited structural cost savings of $16.9 billion. ExxonMobil also highlighted milestone achievements of one billion barrels produced at Guyana and Kearl, and 100 million tons at its PNG LNG project.