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ExxonMobil Q3 Results: Profit Beats on Refining; $20 Billion Buyback

ExxonMobil Q3 results beat estimates as refining margins surged; adjusted EPS hit $4.23 and the oil major set a $20 billion share buyback for 2027.

Isha Sharma
3 Nov 2026 · 5 min read

ExxonMobil on Friday reported third-quarter earnings of $15.41 billion, or $3.72 per share. Higher refining margins helped its ExxonMobil Q3 results come in above estimates, and the company announced a $20 billion share buyback for 2027.

On an adjusted basis, excluding identified items and timing effects, earnings were $17.51 billion, or $4.23 per share, versus $14.68 billion, or $3.52 per share, in Q2. Analysts had expected adjusted earnings per share of $4.08, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

ExxonMobil Q3 results: refining offsets weaker crude

The fuels business drove the increase. Adjusted downstream earnings rose 120% quarter on quarter to $9 billion on higher refining margins, while specialty products earnings increased 32% to $1.3 billion, according to Reuters.

Adjusted upstream earnings fell 20% to $7.3 billion due to lower average Brent prices than in the previous three months. Production came in at 4,496 thousand oil-equivalent barrels per day, compared with 4,514 thousand in Q2.

Higher refining margins resulted from conflict in the Middle East and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, which knocked out fuel-making capacity and limited global diesel supply. Exxon’s refineries along the US Gulf Coast operated at 100% crude unit utilisation and recorded their second-highest diesel output on record.

Exxon said that during the first nine months of the year its refineries achieved record fuels utilisation, excluding Middle East impacts, and their highest global diesel yield. Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said investments such as the Beaumont refinery expansion had contributed.

Operating cash flow increased to $25.65 billion from $23.56 billion in the second quarter. Free cash flow grew to $19.11 billion from $17.24 billion. Cash capital expenditures were $7 billion.

Exxon share buyback and dividend

The company returned $9.4 billion to shareholders during the quarter: $4.3 billion in dividends and $5.1 billion in share repurchases. A fourth-quarter dividend of $1.07 per share was declared, payable on 10 December 2026 to shareholders of record on 16 November.

The Exxon share buyback plan for 2027 is $20 billion, the same as this year’s programme, assuming reasonable market conditions. Exxon reported GAAP earnings of $34.12 billion for the first nine months of 2026, up from $22.34 billion in the same period of 2025.

Woods argued that the gains go beyond the commodity cycle. “These are lasting improvements, not simply the result of favorable prices and margins,” he said in the results statement, pointing to $16.9 billion in structural cost savings since 2019.

What it means for Big Oil and investors

Exxon’s results capped a positive week for its Western peers. Shell and TotalEnergies also beat forecasts on Thursday, Reuters reported, helped by higher fuel prices.

Chevron, another rival that reported on Friday, earned $9.9 billion, or $5.06 a share, in the third quarter. That compared with $3.5 billion, or $1.82 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $10.4 billion, or $5.28 a share.

Chevron said crude throughput at its US refineries reached a record 1.09 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, its worldwide production declined to 3,980 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day from 4,086 thousand a year ago.

For investors, the quarter shows how far refining has become the leading profit engine as upstream earnings sag with crude prices. Exxon has greater production exposure to the Middle East than its peers and has been seeking resources elsewhere, signing a shale agreement in Azerbaijan in September and holding talks on a potential return to Venezuela.

After the ExxonMobil Q3 results, markets will watch whether refining margins hold into the fourth quarter as supply disruptions persist; the next dates for shareholders are the 16 November record date and the 10 December dividend payment. Our coverage of the conflict’s impact on prices, including oil’s rebound after Trump rejected Iran’s Hormuz ceasefire plan, is in our news section. Exxon’s results filing is available on the SEC’s EDGAR database.

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Region: USA

Meta title: ExxonMobil Q3 Results: Refining Lifts Profit Past Estimates (59 characters)

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Note: Fact & grammar check done — 44 corrections (restored “Friday” not “today”, buyback “for 2027” not “by 2027”, Shell/TotalEnergies “on Thursday”, “highest global diesel yield”, “excluding Middle East impacts”, missing $ signs; fixed fragments, capitalisation and apostrophes; Woods introduced with full designation at first mention). Flags: (1) Release gives no Q3 2025 comparison for Exxon, so comparisons are with Q2 2026 and nine-month 2025. (2) Segment figures (upstream/downstream/specialty) and LSEG estimate are from Reuters. (3) SEC 8-K link was found via search (“ExxonMobil Holdings Corp – Form 8-K – FY2026”) but the page could not be opened to confirm — editor to check the external link or swap for the ExxonMobil investor release. (4) Woods quote is verbatim from the release (US spelling “favorable” kept inside quote). (5) Story is ~42 hours old (release 30 Oct pre-market ET). India angle: none genuine, so none added. Phrasly: humanised paragraph by paragraph (headings, the quote paragraph and final links paragraph not sent).

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