Exxon Mobil and Chevron both topped Wall Street profit estimates for the third quarter on Oct. 30, as US refineries ran near full tilt to capture soaring diesel margins.
Exxon's profit doubled to $15.4B, or $3.72 a share, from $7.5B a year earlier. Adjusted earnings came in at $4.23 a share.
Chevron's net income surged nearly 200% to $9.9B, or $5.06 a share, against $3.5B a year ago. Adjusted earnings of $5.28 beat the $4.89 analysts polled by LSEG expected.
Revenue beat too, with Exxon pulling in $113.2B against a $103.1B estimate and Chevron booking $67.8B versus $61.6B expected.
Both Majors Beat Estimates as Refining Profits Surged
Third-quarter 2026 results, reported Oct. 30, 2026
| Company | Q3 Net Income | Adj. EPS | Analyst EPS Est. | Revenue | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exxon Mobil | $15.4B | $4.23 | $4.08 | $113.2B | 4.5M boe/d |
| Chevron | $9.9B | $5.28 | $4.89 | $67.8B | 3.9M boe/d |
Source: CNBC, Reuters, AP
Diesel is doing the heavy lifting
Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and the US-Israeli war on Iran have knocked out fuel-making capacity worldwide, creating a global supply shortage of diesel.
The price of diesel sits at about $6.32 per gallon, up 71% since last year, according to AAA. Regular gasoline is up roughly 38% over the same stretch.
Refiners rushed to fill the gap. Exxon's Gulf Coast refineries ran at 100% crude-unit utilization and hit their second-highest diesel production on record.
Chevron's US refineries processed record crude volumes just above 1M barrels per day at 98% capacity, with diesel and jet fuel yields up more than 10%.
Refining became the growth engine, with Chevron's refining profit jumping more than 300% to $4.9B from $1.1B a year ago and Exxon's adjusted downstream earnings reaching $9B, a 120% surge from the second quarter.
"We continued to rise to the challenge of meeting global energy needs..."
Darren Woods, ExxonMobil
Upstream is the softer half
Exxon's adjusted upstream earnings fell 20% from the second quarter to $7.3B as Brent crude prices eased.
Production held steady at 4.5M barrels of oil equivalent per day, helped by Guyana and the Permian Basin.
Chevron's output slipped to 3.9M barrels per day from about 4M a year ago, with the decline concentrated internationally because of Middle East conflict.
Its results now include one month of Venezuela production, where Chevron has operated since 1923 and recently committed $7B over five years.
Chief executive Mike Wirth said Chevron signed agreements cutting Bakken midstream costs by about 50%, assets it expanded through last year's $53B Hess acquisition.
Exxon paid $4.3B in dividends, repurchased $5.1B of stock, raised its quarterly payout to $1.07, and set a $20B buyback program for 2027, matching this year's.
Shell and TotalEnergies also reported better-than-expected results the day before, making the refining windfall an industry-wide event rather than a two-company one.
