ExxonMobil Posts $4.23 Adjusted EPS and Chevron $5.28 in Third Quarter, Both Beating Forecasts as Refining Profits Hit Six-Year Highs
ExxonMobil and Chevron, the two largest U.S. oil majors, both beat analyst expectations for third-quarter profit on Friday, October 30. ExxonMobil's official results showed third-quarter earnings of $15.4 billion, or $3.72 per share under U.S. GAAP; adjusted earnings were $17.5 billion, or $4.23 per share. Chevron earned $5.28 in adjusted per-share profit. According to Reuters, soaring refining margins lifted earnings from the companies' fuel-making businesses to rival their upstream segments.
ExxonMobil is now earning more money from refining than from upstream for the first time in at least six years, and Chevron's third-quarter downstream earnings also reached their highest point over the same time frame. The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have disrupted global energy markets and sent gasoline and diesel prices higher; the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on refineries in Saudi Arabia and Russia have knocked out fuel-making capacity, while both companies ran their U.S. refineries near full rates. Chevron Chief Financial Officer Eimear Bonner said the spot price of benchmark Brent crude swung from as low as $68 a barrel to a high of $132 during the quarter.
The two majors are using the cash windfall to pay down debt and strengthen their balance sheets instead of increasing dividends or buybacks. ExxonMobil reduced debt by $8 billion during the third quarter, and Chevron has cut net debt by nearly $14 billion compared with the end of 2025. ExxonMobil announced 2027 share repurchases of $20 billion, the same level as the previous two years; its third-quarter shareholder distributions totaled $9.4 billion, including $4.3 billion in dividends and $5.1 billion in share repurchases, with cash flow from operating activities of $25.7 billion and free cash flow of $19.1 billion.
On investment, ExxonMobil is putting more into its refineries, including its Baytown complex in Texas, to increase fuel production, and said the refinery investments will grow U.S. distillate production by another 100,000 barrels per day. Chevron said it could grow capacity by 7% at its Pascagoula refinery in Mississippi by the end of the decade. ExxonMobil Chief Financial Officer Neil Hansen told Reuters that higher fuel prices put real pressure on families and businesses, and that the most meaningful response the company can offer is to pull every lever available to increase supply. Bonner said the company thinks "in decades, not quarters," and needs a strong balance sheet through high prices and low prices alike.
High fuel prices have become a political flashpoint ahead of Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections. President Donald Trump had considered a possible diesel export ban in September before saying in early October that he would not impose it. Shares of ExxonMobil rose about 2% in pre-market trading on Friday, while Chevron was up about 1%.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：德克萨斯州 Baytown 炼油厂日出（资料图）。Baytownbert 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Sunrise at the Baytown refinery in Texas (file photo). Photo by Baytownbert, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
