ExxonMobil Posts $15.4 Billion Profit in Q3 2026, Lifts 2027 Buyback to $20 Billion
ExxonMobil reported $15.4 billion in net profit for the third quarter of 2026, with adjusted earnings of $17.5 billion, or $4.23 per share, according to the company’s quarterly results filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on October 30, 2026. The adjusted figure marked an increase of $2.8 billion from the second quarter, which the company attributed to stronger cash flow, continued cost discipline and record contributions from its refining network.
For the first nine months of 2026, ExxonMobil’s GAAP earnings reached $34.1 billion, or $8.18 per share, up sharply from $22.3 billion in the same period of 2025. Adjusted earnings for the nine-month period came to $41.0 billion, or $9.82 per share.
Cash Flow, Buybacks and a 44th Straight Dividend Increase
Cash flow from operating activities totaled $25.7 billion in the quarter, and free cash flow came in at $19.1 billion. ExxonMobil returned $9.4 billion to shareholders in the quarter — $4.3 billion in dividends and $5.1 billion in share repurchases — while trimming net debt by close to $11 billion since the start of the year, bringing it to $22.1 billion as of September 30, 2026.
The board declared a fourth-quarter dividend of $1.07 per share, payable December 10, 2026, to shareholders of record on November 16, 2026 — the company’s 44th consecutive year of annual dividend-per-share increases. ExxonMobil also said it plans $20 billion in share repurchases in 2027, “assuming reasonable market conditions.”
Upstream Milestones, Capex and Record Refining Gains
Upstream production averaged 4,496 thousand oil-equivalent barrels per day in the quarter, slightly below the 4,514 thousand barrels of the second quarter. ExxonMobil, one of the largest producers in the Permian Basin, did not break out basin-by-basin volumes this quarter, but it did flag two production milestones: cumulative output passed 1 billion barrels each at the Guyana offshore development and at the Kearl oil sands project in Canada, while the PNG LNG venture passed 100 million tonnes of cumulative LNG production.
Capital spending came to $7.0 billion in the quarter and $20.0 billion for the first nine months of 2026, down from $21.1 billion over the same period in 2025. The company also pointed to cumulative structural cost savings of $16.9 billion relative to 2019, including $1.8 billion booked so far this year. On the refining side, CEO Darren Woods linked record US Gulf Coast distillate output — up roughly 40% since 2019 — in part to the company’s Beaumont refinery expansion.
Carbon Capture Advances
ExxonMobil’s Low Carbon Solutions unit notched two milestones during the quarter: the startup of a carbon-capture project supplying steelmaker Nucor, and the approval of the Rose carbon storage project. The company gave no cost or capacity figures for either project in the release.
“We’re increasing production while improving efficiency,” Woods said in the earnings statement.
Part of a Strong Quarter for Big Oil
ExxonMobil’s results followed Shell’s own stronger third-quarter profit, driven by record refining margins, and TotalEnergies’ 51% jump in adjusted net income on refining and LNG — pointing to a broadly favorable quarter for the integrated oil majors.
Sources
- ExxonMobil, Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Release (Form 8-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission), October 30, 2026 — SEC EDGAR filing — source for all financial, production and dividend figures.
- ExxonMobil Investor Relations — investor.exxonmobil.com — company disclosure channel for the release.
Illustrative image. Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source
