Marathon Petroleum Beats Second-Quarter Estimates as Refining Margins Surge

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:MPC) reported second-quarter 2026 results that comfortably exceeded Wall Street expectations, supported by significantly stronger refining margins and robust operational performance.

The stronger earnings helped lift the company’s shares 0.69% in pre-market trading.

Revenue and Earnings Exceed Forecasts

Marathon Petroleum posted adjusted earnings of $17.73 per share, well above the analyst consensus estimate of $12.94.

Revenue climbed to $52.34 billion, beating market expectations of $41.16 billion and representing a 52.8% increase from $33.80 billion in the same quarter last year.

Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $8.5 billion from $3.3 billion a year earlier.

Higher Refining Margins Drive Results

The company’s performance was primarily supported by stronger crack spreads across all operating regions.

The Refining & Marketing margin increased to $36.33 per barrel, compared with $17.58 per barrel in the second quarter of 2025.

Improved market conditions and efficient operations helped deliver a substantial increase in profitability.

CEO Highlights Operational Execution

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Maryann Mannen credited the company’s planning and execution for the strong quarter.

“Strong planning, commercial, and operational execution enabled safe and reliable operations to meet resilient consumer demand,” said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Maryann Mannen. “Our results reflect the differentiated capabilities of our value chains and the execution of our optimization strategies.”

Refining Business Delivers Strong Growth

The Refining & Marketing segment generated adjusted EBITDA of $6.7 billion, compared with $1.9 billion in the prior-year period.

Segment adjusted EBITDA increased to $24.84 per barrel from $6.79 per barrel a year earlier.

Crude utilisation averaged 94% during the quarter, resulting in refinery throughput of approximately 2.9 million barrels per day.

Company Continues Investing and Returning Capital

During the quarter, Marathon Petroleum completed two projects designed to improve refinery yields.

The El Paso investment expanded the refinery’s capacity to produce specialty gasoline products, while the Robinson project added flexibility to increase jet fuel production by approximately 10,000 barrels per day.

The company also returned $2.8 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Looking ahead, Marathon Petroleum expects third-quarter refining operating costs of approximately $5.60 per barrel and refinery throughput of around 3.0 million barrels per day.

Marathon Petroleum Corp stock price