ExxonMobil Q3 2026 earnings: profit tops estimates on refining strength
ExxonMobil's Q3 2026 adjusted profit and revenue beat Wall Street expectations, powered by record refining results and growing Guyana and Permian output, while the company raised its dividend and kept returning cash to shareholders.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $4.23 | $4.12 | +2.7% |
| Revenue | $113.16B | $104.51B | +8.3% |
Key takeaways
- Adjusted profit and revenue both came in above what Wall Street analysts had expected, helped by strong refining performance and steady output from Exxon’s two big growth engines, the Permian Basin (U.S. shale) and offshore Guyana, even as crude oil prices stayed relatively soft during the quarter.
- Profitability margins stayed solid on a trailing-twelve-month basis: roughly 9 cents of every revenue dollar flowed through as net profit, and operating margin held above 11%, showing the business is still converting its massive sales volume into cash even in a lower-price oil environment.
- Both earnings per share and revenue were up from a year earlier on a trailing basis (EPS growth around 10%, revenue growth near 10%), continuing a stretch of year-over-year gains despite choppier oil prices.
- Exxon raised its quarterly dividend by about 4%, to $1.07 per share, marking the 44th straight year the payout has increased — a streak the company points to as evidence it can keep paying and growing dividends through oil-price swings.
- The company generated about $19.1 billion in free cash flow (cash left over after running the business and funding new projects) and returned $9.4 billion to shareholders in the quarter, split between $4.3 billion in dividends and $5.1 billion in share buybacks.
- Looking ahead, Exxon said it plans roughly $20 billion of share buybacks in 2027 and highlighted nearly $11 billion of debt paid down so far this year, signaling management’s confidence in the company’s cash generation even if oil prices soften further.
- Earnings from the upstream (oil-and-gas-production) side of the business slipped from the prior quarter, as lower crude prices and accounting effects tied to Exxon’s production-sharing agreement in Guyana weighed on results, a reminder that profits still move with oil prices.
- Exxon also pointed to record year-to-date performance from its refining operations and progress on growth projects, including taking over operatorship of the Papua LNG natural-gas project and preparing a fifth production vessel in Guyana to start up later this year.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 28.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 11.5% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 9.1% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 12.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $7.77 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 9.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 10.2% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 12.7% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report · earnings call