Murphy USA Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates as Fuel Margins Rise

Motor fuel retailer Murphy USA Inc. MUSA announced fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $7.53, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.67 and compared favorably with the year-ago profit of $6.96. The outperformance was primarily on the back of higher merchandise results.

Meanwhile, Murphy USA’s operating revenues of $4.7 billion rose 0.7% year over year but missed the consensus mark by $57 million due to lower-than-expected petroleum product sales.

Revenues from petroleum product sales came in at $3.6 billion, below our estimate of $3.7 billion and down 0.6% from the fourth quarter of 2024. On the other hand, merchandise sales, at $1.1 billion, were up 3.7% year over year.  

Murphy USA Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Murphy USA Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Murphy USA Inc. Quote

Key Takeaways

MUSA’s total fuel contribution rose 8.9% year over year to $423.6 million due to higher retail contribution and margin expansion. Total fuel contribution (including retail fuel margin plus product supply and wholesale results) came in at 34.3 cents per gallon, up 5.5% from the fourth quarter of 2024.

Retail fuel contribution improved 10.8% year over year to $383 million as margins widened to 31 cents per gallon from 28.9 cents in the corresponding period of 2024. Retail gallons increased 3.1% from the year-ago period to 1,234.2 million and beat our estimate of 1,205 million. Volumes on an SSS basis (or fuel gallons per store) edged up 0.3% from the fourth quarter of 2024 to 234.3 thousand.

Contribution from Merchandise was up 2.1% to $213.2 million on higher sales, though unit margins fell to 19.6% from 19.9% a year ago. On an SSS basis, total merchandise contribution was up a marginal 0.4% year over year, primarily due to 2.7% higher non-nicotine margins. Moreover, merchandise sales edged up 0.5% on an SSS basis, due to a gain in nicotine as well as non-nicotine sales.

The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s monthly fuel gallons fell 0.3% from the prior-year period, but merchandise sales increased 0.5% on an average per-store monthly basis. 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Balance Sheet

As of Dec. 31, Murphy USA — which opened 29 new retail locations in the quarter and closed one outlet to take its store count to 1,800 — had cash and cash equivalents of $28.9 million and long-term debt (including lease obligations) of $2.2 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 77.6%.

During the quarter, MUSA bought back shares worth $67.5 million.

2026 Guidance

Murphy USA’s 2026 guidance calls for continued unit growth and disciplined profitability. The company plans to open 45 to 55 new stores and complete up to 30 raze-and-rebuild projects. Merchandise contribution is guided to $890-$900 million, while capital expenditures are expected to total $475 million to $525 million for the year.

Some Key Refining Earnings

While we have discussed MUSA’s fourth-quarter results in detail, let’s see how some other refining companies have fared this earnings season.

Valero Energy VLO reported adjusted earnings of $3.82 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.22. The bottom line also improved significantly from the year-ago quarter’s level of 64 cents per share. Valero’s better-than-expected quarterly results can be primarily attributed to an increase in refining margins, higher ethanol production volumes and lower total cost of sales. The positives were partially offset by a decline in renewable diesel margins.

Valero’s fourth-quarter capital investment totaled $412 million, of which $368 million was allocated toward sustaining the business. The company had cash and cash equivalents of $4.7 billion at the end of 2025. As of Dec. 31, 2025, Valero had a total debt of $8.3 billion and finance-lease obligations of $2.4 billion.

Another refining giant, Phillips 66 PSX, reported adjusted earnings of $2.47 per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.11 and turning around from the year-ago quarter’s loss of 15 cents. Phillips 66’s outperformance can be attributed to higher realized refining margins worldwide and increased contributions from the midstream segment.

Phillips 66 generated $2.8 billion in net cash from operations in the reported quarter, surging from $1.2 billion in the year-ago period. The company’s capital expenditure and investments totaled $682 million. It paid out dividends of $482 million in the fourth quarter. As of Dec. 31, 2025, cash and cash equivalents were $1.1 billion. Total debt was $19.7 billion, reflecting a debt-to-capitalization of 39%.

Finally, we have Marathon Petroleum’s MPC fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $4.07, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.73. Moreover, the bottom line increased significantly from the year-ago adjusted profit of 77 cents. Marathon Petroleum’s outperformance was driven by stronger-than-expected Refining & Marketing segment performance and a 4.9% year-over-year decline in costs and expenses during the quarter.

Marathon Petroleum reported expenses of $30.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from $32.3 billion reported in the year-ago quarter. In the reported quarter, Marathon Petroleum spent $1.5 billion on capital programs (31% on Refining & Marketing and 67% on the Midstream segment) compared with $921 million in the year-ago period.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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