Marathon Petroleum Q2 Earnings Beat on Strong Refining Margins
Independent oil refiner and marketer Marathon Petroleum CorporationMPC reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $17.73 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.52 by 22.1%. Earnings per share also surged 347.7% from the year-ago level of $3.96 per share, primarily reflecting significantly stronger Refining & Marketing performance.
Findlay, OH-based Marathon Petroleum reported revenues and other income of $52.34 billion, up 53.5% year over year and above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $34.83 billion by 50.3%. Refining & Marketing margin rose sharply to $36.33 per barrel from $17.58 a year ago, and also beat our consensus mark by 11.17%
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Inside MPC's Segments
Refining & Marketing (R&M): This segment reported adjusted EBITDA of $6.66 billion, up significantly from $1.89 billion in the year-ago quarter, and the reported figure was also 14.75% above our consensus estimate. The improvement primarily reflected higher crack spreads across all regions. Adjusted EBITDA per barrel increased to $24.84 from $6.79 a year earlier.
Midstream: This unit mainly reflects Marathon Petroleum’s general partner and majority limited partner interests in MPLX LPMPLX — a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates, develops and acquires pipelines and other midstream assets.
Segment adjusted EBITDA was $1.78 billion, up 8.3% from $1.64 billion in the second quarter of 2025, and the reported figure was also 5.51% above our consensus estimate. This increase was primarily driven by higher rates and throughputs, including contributions from equity affiliates and acquisitions, partly offset by the divestiture of non-core gathering and processing assets.
Marathon Petroleum's Renewable Diesel Results
The Renewable Diesel segment reported adjusted EBITDA of $258 million against a loss of $19 million in the corresponding period of 2025, and the reported figure was also 186.45% above our consensus estimate. The improvement reflected a stronger margin environment, higher throughputs and improved regulatory credit values.
Renewable Diesel margin increased to $321 million from $49 million a year ago. Following the completion of the Martinez turnaround in the first quarter, utilization reached 95% in the reported quarter. Management also highlighted feedstock optimization as a contributor to the segment's performance.
MPC's Refining Operating Metrics
Crude capacity utilization during the quarter was 94% compared with 97% in the year-ago period. Net refinery throughput was 2,944 thousand barrels per day (mbpd), down from 3,060 mbpd a year earlier. However, refined product sales volumes increased slightly to 3,842 mbpd from 3,835 mbpd.
MPC achieved Refining & Marketing margin capture of 112%. Management attributed the strong capture to crude sourcing and optimization, inventory discipline, favorable clean-product margins and higher jet production. Refining operating costs increased to $5.72 per barrel from $5.34, while planned turnaround costs totaled $275 million compared with $250 million a year ago.
Marathon Petroleum's Financial Analysis
Marathon Petroleum reported total costs and expenses of $45.02 billion in the second quarter of 2026 compared with $31.90 billion in the year-ago period. Capital expenditures and investments totaled $1.39 billion, up from $1.07 billion a year earlier, with $1.02 billion directed toward the Midstream segment.
As of June 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $7.77 billion and total consolidated debt of $32.82 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 56.1%. MPC returned more than $2.8 billion of capital to its shareholders during the quarter, including $2.53 billion in share repurchases. The company had $6.1 billion remaining under its share repurchase authorizations.
MPC's Capital Projects Progress
MPC's 2026 capital spending outlook, excluding MPLX, remains $1.5 billion. Approximately 65% of the planned spending is focused on value-enhancing investments, while the remaining 35% is allocated to sustaining operations.
During the second quarter, the El Paso yield improvement and Robinson product flexibility investments were placed in service. The Robinson project enables approximately 10 thousand barrels per day of incremental jet fuel production, while the El Paso investment enhances the refinery's ability to produce specialty gasoline for key markets.
Marathon Petroleum's Q3 Outlook
For the third quarter of 2026, MPC expects crude oil throughput of 2,820 mbpd and total refinery throughput of 3,005 mbpd. Refinery utilization is projected at 94%.
This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company expects refining operating costs of $5.60 per barrel, distribution costs of $1.65 billion and planned turnaround costs of $290 million. Corporate expenses are projected at $260 million, including approximately $30 million of depreciation and amortization. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Important Earnings at a Glance
While we have discussed MPC’s second-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at two other key reports in this space.
San Antonio, TX-based oil and gas refining and marketing service provider, Valero Energy CorporationVLO, reported second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $2.28 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.73. However, the bottom line declined from the year-ago quarter’s level of $2.71. The better-than-expected quarterly results can be attributed to an increase in refining margins per barrel of throughput and lower total cost of sales. The positives were partially offset by a decline in refining throughput volumes and renewable diesel sales volumes.
The company had cash and cash equivalents of $4.5 billion at the end of the second quarter. As of June 30, 2025, it had a total debt of $8.4 billion and finance-lease obligations of $2.3 billion.
Houston, TX-based oil and gas equipment and services provider, Halliburton CompanyHAL, reported second-quarter 2025 adjusted net income of 55 cents per share, which was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but below the year-ago quarter’s profit of 80 cents (adjusted). The numbers reflect softer activity in the North American region, partly offset by international growth.
As of June 30, 2025, the company had approximately $2 billion in cash/cash equivalents and $7.2 billion in long-term debt, representing a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 40.4. Halliburton reported second-quarter capital expenditure of $354 million, up from our projection of $338.2 million.
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