Chevron earnings: third quarter 2026

Chevron's profit nearly tripled in the third quarter of 2026, to $9.9 billion from $3.5 billion a year earlier. Sales rose about 35% to $65.2 billion. Wider margins on refining and selling fuel, and higher crude oil prices, did the work. It was not volume: Chevron produced slightly less oil and gas than a year ago. The extra profit came in as real cash. Chevron used it to cut its debt and keep large payouts to shareholders. It gave no forecast for the next quarter or the year. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Chevron's profit per share was $5.06, about 6% above the $4.78 that analysts expected on average, by the count of Nasdaq's earnings calendar. ¹²

The strong points

• Profit after everything nearly tripled, to $9.9 billion from $3.5 billion a year ago, mostly because Chevron earned far more on each barrel it refined into fuel. ¹
• Free cash flow, the cash left after running the business and investing in it, rose to $12.0 billion from $4.9 billion a year earlier. ¹
• Debt minus cash fell to $20.7 billion from $34.5 billion at the end of 2025. ¹

The weak points

• Chevron pumped less: international output fell to 1.94 million barrels a day from 2.05 million a year ago, and US output was flat. ¹
• Cash from running the business fell about 29% from the second quarter, to $16.0 billion, as the oil price slipped from $104 to $97. ¹

What the company expects

• Chevron gave no forecast for the next quarter or the year; its only forward figure is a plan to cut by about half what it pays to move oil and gas out of its Bakken fields in North Dakota. ¹
• Chevron is looking for future production in new places: an offshore oil find in Angola, an exploration deal in Libya and more acreage in Venezuela. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. Profit nearly tripled on wider fuel margins and higher oil prices, came in above what analysts expected and arrived as real cash, though it rests on prices rather than more production, and Chevron gave no forecast for the year.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)

Notes

1. Chevron's results release, 30 October 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 30 October 2026. ↩