Marathon Petroleum Corporation · MPC · FY2024 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2024
MPC beats Q3 EPS estimates as midstream cash flow supports returns
The supplied analysis supports a constructive but conditional view: strong Q3 operating execution, resilient refined-product demand, and growing MPLX cash flow support earnings and capital returns, while margin volatility and execution, regulatory, and leverage risks limit certainty.
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensusMarket reaction
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Transcript intelligence
What changed
The quarter added evidence of strong operating execution and midstream support: MPC reported 96% margin capture, MPLX raised its annualized distribution 12.5% to $2.5 billion, and management disclosed a further $5 billion repurchase authorization. The near-term outlook still includes planned turnaround spending and 90% utilization.
Guidance delta
Management maintained guidance; the supplied Q4 outlook calls for 90% refinery utilization, $5.50 per barrel operating cost, and $285 million of turnaround expense.
Key takeaways
- Q3 EPS was $1.87, with 96% margin capture and 94% refinery utilization despite volatile refining margins.
- MPLX increased its annualized distribution 12.5% to $2.5 billion, fully covering MPC's dividend.
- MPC returned $3 billion to shareholders in Q3 and added $5 billion to its repurchase authorization.
- Strategic spending targets a Los Angeles refinery upgrade, the Galveston Bay DHT project, and additional midstream capacity.
Management priorities
- Maintain capital returns through share repurchases and dividend growth.
- Advance the Los Angeles refinery upgrade targeting a 20% IRR and lower NOx emissions.
- Proceed with the Galveston Bay DHT project for ultra-low-sulfur diesel production.
- Complete Harmon Creek III gas-processing and fractionation capacity by 2026.
- Expand pipeline and midstream assets, including BANGL and Blackcomb.
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Analyst 52W Price Targets
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted previous close from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 19, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Oct 14, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 13, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI Group | In Line | In Line | Maintain | Oct 12, 2026 |
| Barclays | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Oct 12, 2026 |
| Mizuho | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 8, 2026 |
| B of A Securities | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 2, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Sep 22, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Sep 21, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Sep 14, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Sep 14, 2026 |
| UBS | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Sep 8, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Sep 3, 2026 |
| TD Cowen | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Aug 5, 2026 |
| Scotiabank | Sector Outperform | Sector Outperform | Maintain | Apr 22, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Feb 9, 2026 |
| Wolfe Research | Peer Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Jul 14, 2025 |
| JP Morgan | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 9, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Aug 2, 2023 |
| Cowen & Co. | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Feb 1, 2023 |
| Credit Suisse | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | May 4, 2022 |
| Macquarie | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Feb 6, 2019 |
| Standpoint Research | Buy | Accumulate | Maintain | Dec 26, 2018 |
| Bank of America | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | May 10, 2018 |
| Deutsche Bank | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Mar 19, 2018 |
| PiperJaffray | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Sep 16, 2016 |
| Scotia Howard Weil | Sector Outperform | Sector Perform | Upgrade | Dec 15, 2015 |
| Oppenheimer | Outperform | Perform | Upgrade | May 27, 2015 |
| S&P Capital IQ | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Jul 3, 2014 |
| Imperial Capital | Outperform | In Line | Upgrade | Jan 31, 2014 |
| ISI Group | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jan 30, 2014 |
| Simmons & Co. | Overweight | Neutral | Upgrade | Dec 2, 2013 |
| Tudor Pickering | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 23, 2012 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted previous close $478.07. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $560 | $476.98 | +17.1% | Oct 14, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Lloyd Byrne | $433 | $455.03 | -9.4% | Oct 11, 2026 |
| UBS | Manav Gupta | $510 | $468.02 | +6.7% | Oct 9, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Nitin Kumar | $457 | $442.26 | -4.4% | Oct 8, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Lloyd Byrne | $413 | $402.38 | -13.6% | Sep 21, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $472 | $424.89 | -1.3% | Sep 21, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Analyst unavailable | $445 | $404.77 | -6.9% | Sep 14, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Joe Laetsch | $453 | $407.14 | -5.2% | Sep 14, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $450 | $388.9 | -5.9% | Sep 8, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | John Royall | $462 | $387 | -3.4% | Sep 3, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $400 | $373.32 | -16.3% | Sep 1, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $304 | $320.32 | -36.4% | Aug 11, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | John Royall | $344 | $300.09 | -28.0% | Aug 6, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $321 | $297.75 | -32.9% | Aug 6, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $330 | $310.71 | -31.0% | Aug 5, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $359 | $312.61 | -24.9% | Aug 5, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Analyst unavailable | $343 | $315.82 | -28.3% | Jul 23, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Justin Jenkins | $335 | $294.06 | -29.9% | Jul 13, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $289 | $283.74 | -39.5% | Jul 13, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $335 | $283.74 | -29.9% | Jul 12, 2026 |
| UBS | Manav Gupta | $321 | $280.61 | -32.9% | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Sam Margolin | $344 | $263.58 | -28.0% | Jun 15, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $265 | $260.81 | -44.6% | Jun 12, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $284 | $248.05 | -40.6% | May 27, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $285 | $249.32 | -40.4% | May 6, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $270 | $260.51 | -43.5% | May 6, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Joe Laetsch | $233 | $221.1 | -51.3% | Apr 24, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $230 | $220.27 | -51.9% | Apr 10, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Analyst unavailable | $228 | $223.52 | -52.3% | Apr 9, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Phillip Jungwirth | $225 | $203.91 | -52.9% | Feb 9, 2026 |
| UBS | Manav Gupta | $221 | $203.63 | -53.8% | Feb 6, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $217 | $187.58 | -54.6% | Feb 4, 2026 |
| Scotiabank | Paul Cheng | $174 | $176.1 | -63.6% | Jan 16, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $205 | $175.54 | -57.1% | Jan 13, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Analyst unavailable | $184 | $172.51 | -61.5% | Jan 8, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $196 | $186.97 | -59.0% | Dec 12, 2025 |
| Raymond James | Justin Jenkins | $200 | $184.54 | -58.2% | Nov 4, 2025 |
| Raymond James | Justin Jenkins | $203 | $181.15 | -57.5% | Oct 17, 2025 |
| Barclays | Theresa Chen | $194 | $180.89 | -59.4% | Oct 13, 2025 |
| Scotiabank | Analyst unavailable | $189 | $189.06 | -60.5% | Oct 9, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $200 | $192.24 | -58.2% | Oct 3, 2025 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $220 | $196.44 | -54.0% | Sep 26, 2025 |
| Evercore ISI | Stephen Richardson | $170 | $167.42 | -64.4% | Jun 18, 2025 |
| Raymond James | Analyst unavailable | $193 | $147.35 | -59.6% | Mar 27, 2025 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $161 | $141.15 | -66.3% | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Joe Laetsch | $174 | $151.06 | -63.6% | Dec 19, 2024 |
| Bank of America Securities | Jean Ann Salisbury | $174 | $157.9 | -63.6% | Oct 17, 2024 |
| Scotiabank | Paul Cheng | $170 | $162.61 | -64.4% | Oct 10, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Ryan Todd | $145 | $164.22 | -69.7% | Sep 24, 2024 |
| UBS | Manav Gupta | $189 | $163.58 | -60.5% | Sep 14, 2024 |
| Wolfe Research | Doug Leggate | $200 | $165.56 | -58.2% | Jul 17, 2024 |
| Jefferies | Lloyd Byrne | $231 | $165.46 | -51.7% | Jul 14, 2024 |
| Wells Fargo | Roger Read | $196 | $164.29 | -59.0% | Jul 12, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Nitin Kumar | $201 | $172.45 | -58.0% | Jun 20, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Ryan Todd | $168 | $168.9 | -64.9% | Jun 14, 2024 |
| Raymond James | Justin Jenkins | $230 | $174.66 | -51.9% | May 30, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Ryan Todd | $190 | $177.86 | -60.3% | May 14, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Nitin Kumar | $203 | $179.56 | -57.5% | May 13, 2024 |
| Barclays | Theresa Chen | $195 | $182.55 | -59.2% | May 6, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Nitin Kumar | $202 | $212.27 | -57.7% | Apr 12, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Ryan Todd | $204 | $216.25 | -57.3% | Apr 5, 2024 |
| Wells Fargo | Roger Read | $227 | $214.96 | -52.5% | Apr 4, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Nitin Kumar | $160 | $128.38 | -66.5% | Mar 10, 2023 |
| UBS | Manav Gupta | $165 | $129.41 | -65.5% | Mar 9, 2023 |
| Cowen & Co. | Analyst unavailable | $143 | $123.85 | -70.1% | Feb 1, 2023 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $153 | $125.67 | -68.0% | Feb 1, 2023 |
| Raymond James | Analyst unavailable | $165 | $128.52 | -65.5% | Feb 1, 2023 |
| Raymond James | Analyst unavailable | $155 | $122.08 | -67.6% | Jan 13, 2023 |
| Piper Sandler | Analyst unavailable | $143 | $109.75 | -70.1% | Dec 19, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Roger Read | $117 | $95.79 | -75.5% | Aug 16, 2022 |
| BMO Capital | Phillip Jungwirth | $135 | $84.48 | -71.8% | Jun 29, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Roger Read | $129 | $102.17 | -73.0% | Jun 14, 2022 |
| Credit Suisse | Analyst unavailable | $110 | $93.42 | -77.0% | May 4, 2022 |
| Citigroup | Analyst unavailable | $108 | $84.86 | -77.4% | Apr 26, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Connor Lynagh | $115 | $84.08 | -75.9% | Apr 25, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $110 | $90.98 | -77.0% | Apr 21, 2022 |
| Citigroup | Prashant Rao | $85 | $72.81 | -82.2% | Jan 19, 2022 |
| Barclays | Theresa Chen | $80 | $72.16 | -83.3% | Jan 11, 2022 |
| Bank of America Securities | Doug Leggate | $88 | $69.93 | -81.6% | Jan 10, 2022 |
| UBS | Lloyd Byrne | $73 | $63.11 | -84.7% | Nov 17, 2021 |
| Goldman Sachs | Neil Mehta | $73 | $62.66 | -84.7% | Nov 3, 2021 |
| Wolfe Research | Sam Margolin | $68 | $55.29 | -85.8% | May 4, 2021 |
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Start freeCompany context
Snapshot as of publicationMarathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) functions as a prominent integrated energy enterprise, primarily concentrating its downstream operations across the United States. Its business is bifurcated into two main divisions: Refining & Marketing, and Midstream. The Refining & Marketing segment is responsible for processing crude oil and various other raw materials at its refineries, strategically located in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions. This division also acquires refined petroleum products and ethanol for subsequent distribution. Key outputs from this segment encompass a diverse array of transportation fuels, including different gasoline blends, heavy fuel oil, and asphalt. Additionally, it manufactures chemicals such as aromatics, propane, propylene, and sulfur.…
Historical context
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Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2024-11-10T18:38:36.707185+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-10-19T07:20:46.600053+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-19T07:20:46.597244+00:00
Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-10-19. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.