Chevron Q1 2026 Earnings: Profit Falls on One-Time Charges, Production Jumps on Hess Deal

May 7, 2026 · Published August 7, 2026

Chevron's Q1 2026 profit dropped sharply from a year ago on one-time hedging and legal charges, even as production surged following the Hess acquisition.

Figures as reported by the company to the SEC for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Analyst estimates are not part of a filing, so no comparison to expectations is shown.

Key takeaways

• Net income fell to $2.2 billion ($1.11 per diluted share) from $3.5 billion ($2.00 per share) a year earlier. The decline was largely tied to one-time items: a timing effect from hedging contracts, a $360 million charge related to a legal reserve, and a $223 million hit from foreign-currency swings.
• On an adjusted basis — a non-GAAP measure that excludes one-time items like the ones above — Chevron earned $1.41 per share, down from $2.18 a year earlier, showing that underlying profitability softened even after stripping out the unusual charges.
• Oil and gas production grew sharply, up by roughly 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day versus a year ago, mainly from folding in Hess Corporation’s assets after the acquisition closed, plus continued growth in the Permian Basin and Gulf of America.
• The upstream (exploration and production) business earned $3.9 billion, up 4% from a year earlier, helped by higher crude oil prices during the quarter.
• Trailing-twelve-month profit margins show Chevron kept about 10 cents of net profit for every dollar of revenue and roughly 13 cents at the operating level — a sign that even with production climbing, costs and softer refining conditions have been squeezing how much of each sales dollar turns into profit.
• Return on equity over the trailing twelve months was about 6%, a modest measure of how much profit Chevron generated relative to the money shareholders have invested in the company.
• Management reaffirmed a target to cut $3 billion to $4 billion in structural costs by the end of 2026, continuing efficiency efforts and savings expected from integrating Hess.

Q1 2026 in context

Figures for the quarter ended Mar 2026 and the quarter ended Mar 2025, as reported to the SEC.

How the stock took it

Chevron Corp closed at $185.16 on May 6, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $181.62 on May 8, 2026, the first session after it — -1.9% across the report.

Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.

Financial history →

Sources: company report · earnings call · IndexBox