Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:MPC) shares are trading higher on Tuesday after the company reported second-quarter 2026 earnings results.
Earnings Snapshot
- Adjusted EPS of $17.73 exceeded analyst expectations of $13.73. Revenue reached $52.3 billion, surpassing estimates of $42.1 billion.
- Adjusted EBITDA rose to $8.5 billion from $3.3 billion, led by strong refining margins, operational execution, and optimization efforts.
- $6.6 billion in operating cash flow was generated, excluding working capital changes; It returned $2.8 billion to shareholders, including $2.5 billion in share repurchases.
- As of June 30, MPC had cash and cash equivalents of $7.8 billion, including $1 billion of cash at MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX), and no borrowings outstanding under its $5 billion five-year bank revolving credit facility.
Segment Performance
- Refining & Marketing (R&M) adjusted EBITDA rose to $6.7 billion vs $1.9 billion a year ago. This is supported by favorable margins, throughput of nearly 3 million barrels per day, and the lowest unplanned downtime in a decade. Refinery utilization was 94%, with Gulf Coast facilities operating at 100% utilization. R&M margin capture reached 112% in Q2 and 108% year to date, exceeding $1 billion.
- Midstream segment adjusted EBITDA increased to $1.8 billion from $1.6 billion in the prior year quarter. This is led by higher rates and throughput volumes, including contributions from equity affiliates and acquisitions.
- Renewable diesel segment adjusted EBITDA increased approximately $277 million year over year to $258 million. The Martinez refinery turnaround improved utilization 95%.
Key Project Updates
Marathon highlighted continued project execution during the quarter, with Permian sour gas treating volumes exceeding 150 MMcf/d for a second straight quarter and capacity on track to surpass 400 MMcf/d by year-end.
The company also completed refinery upgrades that expanded jet fuel and specialty gasoline production, while MPLX advanced several natural gas and NGL infrastructure projects, including bringing new processing capacity online and progressing the Blackcomb pipeline toward a fourth-quarter startup.
Outlook
For Q3, Marathon expects refining throughput of approximately 2.8 million barrels per day, or 94% utilization. Planned turnaround expenses of about $290 million, primarily for Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent conversion units, are expected to temporarily pressure margin capture.
Management expects refining markets to remain in an elevated mid-cycle environment through the end of 2026 and into 2027, supported by tight global product supplies.
MPLX raised its 2026 growth capital spending outlook by $500 million to $2.9 billion, driven by accelerated execution of the Gulf Coast Fractionation project. The company continues to expect mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth in 2026, with stronger momentum in the second half and into 2027, supporting 12.5% annual distribution growth in both 2026 and 2027.
MPC Stock Price Activity: Marathon Petroleum shares were up 1.63% at $312.04 at the time of publication Tuesday.
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