Marathon Petroleum Corporation · MPC · FY2026 Q1 · Calendar Q2 2026

Marathon Petroleum Q1 2026: Record Operations, $5B Buyback, EPS Doubles Estimates

Marathon Petroleum delivered Q1 2026 adjusted EPS of $1.65, more than double the $0.74 consensus, on $2.8 billion in adjusted EBITDA. Refinery utilization reached 89% with 99% margin capture and record-low unplanned downtime. Capital deployment is accelerating: $330 million into refining projects (jet fuel capacity at Garyville and Robinson, yield improvements at El Paso) and $2.4 billion via MPLX into natural-gas and NGL infrastructure. Shareholder returns remain front and center with $1 billion returned in Q1 plus a new $5 billion buyback authorization. Management reaffirmed its full-year outlook and guided 94% Q2 utilization, citing a tight global refining market with roughly 6 million bpd of capacity offline due to Middle East conflict. The stock traded 2.35% above benchmark on the report and drifted 2.57% subsequently, with the current price of $306.05 sitting near the analyst…

Reported Before market openNYSEEnergy $89.35B market cap
100quality score

Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Marathon 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.…

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $1.65 Consensus $1
EPS surprise +123.3% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $34.57B Consensus $33.42B
Revenue surprise +3.4% Reported versus consensus

Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
MPC EPS earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 8 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $2.20 Q4 '23 actual $3.98, beat Q1 '24 estimate $2.42 Q1 '24 actual $2.58, beat Q2 '24 estimate $3.09 Q2 '24 actual $4.12, beat Q3 '24 estimate $0.98 Q3 '24 actual $1.87, beat Q2 '25 estimate $3.24 Q2 '25 actual $3.96, beat Q3 '25 estimate $3.15 Q3 '25 actual $3.01, miss Q4 '25 estimate $2.72 Q4 '25 actual $4.07, beat Q1 '26 estimate $0.74 Q1 '26 actual $1.65, beat Q2 '26 estimate $13.95 Q3 '26 estimate $15.81 Q4 '26 estimate $8.39 Q1 '27 estimate $5.33

Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy32 ratings
Bullish2475.0%
Neutral825.0%
Bearish00.0%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$306.05Previous close
$68Low
$200.19Average
$344High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted previous close from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 29, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Goldman Sachs Buy BuyMaintainJul 22, 2026
TD Cowen Buy BuyMaintainJul 21, 2026
Citigroup Neutral NeutralMaintainJul 14, 2026
Raymond James Outperform OutperformMaintainJul 13, 2026
Evercore ISI Group In Line In LineMaintainJul 13, 2026
Barclays Overweight OverweightMaintainJul 13, 2026
Morgan Stanley Overweight OverweightMaintainJun 12, 2026
Mizuho Neutral NeutralMaintainMay 27, 2026
Wells Fargo Overweight OverweightMaintainMay 6, 2026
Scotiabank Sector Outperform Sector OutperformMaintainApr 22, 2026
Piper Sandler Neutral NeutralMaintainApr 9, 2026
UBS Buy BuyMaintainApr 2, 2026
BMO Capital Outperform OutperformMaintainFeb 9, 2026
B of A Securities Neutral NeutralMaintainSep 3, 2025
Wolfe Research Peer Perform OutperformDowngradeJul 14, 2025
JP Morgan Neutral NeutralMaintainOct 9, 2024
Jefferies Buy BuyMaintainJul 15, 2024
RBC Capital Outperform OutperformMaintainAug 2, 2023
Cowen & Co. Outperform OutperformMaintainFeb 1, 2023
Credit Suisse Outperform OutperformMaintainMay 4, 2022
Macquarie Outperform OutperformMaintainFeb 6, 2019
Standpoint Research Buy AccumulateMaintainDec 26, 2018
Bank of America Buy NeutralUpgradeMay 10, 2018
Deutsche Bank Buy BuyMaintainMar 19, 2018
PiperJaffray Neutral NeutralMaintainSep 16, 2016
Scotia Howard Weil Sector Outperform Sector PerformUpgradeDec 15, 2015
Oppenheimer Outperform PerformUpgradeMay 27, 2015
S&P Capital IQ Buy HoldUpgradeJul 3, 2014
Imperial Capital Outperform In LineUpgradeJan 31, 2014
ISI Group Buy NeutralUpgradeJan 30, 2014
Simmons & Co. Overweight NeutralUpgradeDec 2, 2013
Tudor Pickering Buy BuyMaintainJul 23, 2012
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Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted previous close $306.05. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Piper SandlerAnalyst unavailable$343$315.82 +12.1%Jul 23, 2026
Raymond JamesJustin Jenkins$335$294.06 +9.5%Jul 13, 2026
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$289$283.74 -5.6%Jul 13, 2026
JefferiesAnalyst unavailable$335$283.74 +9.5%Jul 12, 2026
UBSManav Gupta$321$280.61 +4.9%Jul 10, 2026
Wells FargoSam Margolin$344$263.58 +12.4%Jun 15, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$265$260.81 -13.4%Jun 12, 2026
Mizuho SecuritiesAnalyst unavailable$284$248.05 -7.2%May 27, 2026
UBSAnalyst unavailable$285$249.32 -6.9%May 6, 2026
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$270$260.51 -11.8%May 6, 2026
Morgan StanleyJoe Laetsch$233$221.1 -23.9%Apr 24, 2026
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$230$220.27 -24.8%Apr 10, 2026
Piper SandlerAnalyst unavailable$228$223.52 -25.5%Apr 9, 2026
BMO CapitalPhillip Jungwirth$225$203.91 -26.5%Feb 9, 2026
UBSManav Gupta$221$203.63 -27.8%Feb 6, 2026
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$217$187.58 -29.1%Feb 4, 2026
ScotiabankPaul Cheng$174$176.1 -43.1%Jan 16, 2026
Mizuho SecuritiesAnalyst unavailable$205$175.54 -33.0%Jan 13, 2026
Piper SandlerAnalyst unavailable$184$172.51 -39.9%Jan 8, 2026
Mizuho SecuritiesAnalyst unavailable$196$186.97 -36.0%Dec 12, 2025
Raymond JamesJustin Jenkins$200$184.54 -34.7%Nov 4, 2025
Raymond JamesJustin Jenkins$203$181.15 -33.7%Oct 17, 2025
BarclaysTheresa Chen$194$180.89 -36.6%Oct 13, 2025
ScotiabankAnalyst unavailable$189$189.06 -38.2%Oct 9, 2025
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$200$192.24 -34.7%Oct 3, 2025
UBSAnalyst unavailable$220$196.44 -28.1%Sep 26, 2025
Evercore ISIStephen Richardson$170$167.42 -44.5%Jun 18, 2025
Raymond JamesAnalyst unavailable$193$147.35 -36.9%Mar 27, 2025
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$161$141.15 -47.4%Mar 14, 2025
Morgan StanleyJoe Laetsch$174$151.06 -43.1%Dec 19, 2024
Bank of America SecuritiesJean Ann Salisbury$174$157.9 -43.1%Oct 17, 2024
ScotiabankPaul Cheng$170$162.61 -44.5%Oct 10, 2024
Piper SandlerRyan Todd$145$164.22 -52.6%Sep 24, 2024
UBSManav Gupta$189$163.58 -38.2%Sep 14, 2024
Wolfe ResearchDoug Leggate$200$165.56 -34.7%Jul 17, 2024
JefferiesLloyd Byrne$231$165.46 -24.5%Jul 14, 2024
Wells FargoRoger Read$196$164.29 -36.0%Jul 12, 2024
Mizuho SecuritiesNitin Kumar$201$172.45 -34.3%Jun 20, 2024
Piper SandlerRyan Todd$168$168.9 -45.1%Jun 14, 2024
Raymond JamesJustin Jenkins$230$174.66 -24.8%May 30, 2024
Piper SandlerRyan Todd$190$177.86 -37.9%May 14, 2024
Mizuho SecuritiesNitin Kumar$203$179.56 -33.7%May 13, 2024
BarclaysTheresa Chen$195$182.55 -36.3%May 6, 2024
Mizuho SecuritiesNitin Kumar$202$212.27 -34.0%Apr 12, 2024
Piper SandlerRyan Todd$204$216.25 -33.3%Apr 5, 2024
Wells FargoRoger Read$227$214.96 -25.8%Apr 4, 2024
Mizuho SecuritiesNitin Kumar$160$128.38 -47.7%Mar 10, 2023
UBSManav Gupta$165$129.41 -46.1%Mar 9, 2023
Cowen & Co.Analyst unavailable$143$123.85 -53.3%Feb 1, 2023
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$153$125.67 -50.0%Feb 1, 2023
Raymond JamesAnalyst unavailable$165$128.52 -46.1%Feb 1, 2023
Raymond JamesAnalyst unavailable$155$122.08 -49.4%Jan 13, 2023
Piper SandlerAnalyst unavailable$143$109.75 -53.3%Dec 19, 2022
Wells FargoRoger Read$117$95.79 -61.8%Aug 16, 2022
BMO CapitalPhillip Jungwirth$135$84.48 -55.9%Jun 29, 2022
Wells FargoRoger Read$129$102.17 -57.9%Jun 14, 2022
Credit SuisseAnalyst unavailable$110$93.42 -64.1%May 4, 2022
CitigroupAnalyst unavailable$108$84.86 -64.7%Apr 26, 2022
Morgan StanleyConnor Lynagh$115$84.08 -62.4%Apr 25, 2022
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$110$90.98 -64.1%Apr 21, 2022
CitigroupPrashant Rao$85$72.81 -72.2%Jan 19, 2022
BarclaysTheresa Chen$80$72.16 -73.9%Jan 11, 2022
Bank of America SecuritiesDoug Leggate$88$69.93 -71.2%Jan 10, 2022
UBSLloyd Byrne$73$63.11 -76.1%Nov 17, 2021
Goldman SachsNeil Mehta$73$62.66 -76.1%Nov 3, 2021
Wolfe ResearchSam Margolin$68$55.29 -77.8%May 4, 2021
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Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move +3.2% Event window
SPY move +0.8% Same window
Abnormal move +2.4% Stock minus SPY
Volume 1.2× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +2.6% Up to 20 sessions
MPCSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

Capex outlook shifted from decreasing in Q4 2025 to increasing in Q1 2026. The prior quarter emphasized a 20% cut in refining capex to $700 million; Q1 saw $330 million deployed into refining projects with continued investment ahead. Margin capture moved from 105% in full-year 2025 to 99% in Q1 2026, still strong but no longer above 100%. A new $5 billion buyback authorization builds on the prior commitment to return $4.5 billion to shareholders in 2026. MPC also disclosed the first-time export of ULSD from Los Angeles to Australia and naphtha to Asia, and the purchase of roughly 10 million barrels of advantaged SPR crude directly from the U.S. DOE, neither of which were highlighted in the prior quarter.

Guidance delta

Management maintained full-year guidance and guided Q2 2026 refinery utilization to 94%. Guidance sentiment is unchanged from the prior quarter (maintained). No upward or downward revision to financial targets was indicated.

Key takeaways

  • Adjusted EPS of $1.65 beat the $0.74 estimate by 123%; adjusted EBITDA reached $2.8 billion.
  • Refinery utilization was 89% with 99% margin capture and record-low unplanned downtime.
  • $1 billion returned to shareholders in Q1 alongside a new $5 billion share repurchase authorization.
  • MPLX invested $2.4 billion in natural-gas and NGL infrastructure, with Gulf Coast fractionation facilities slated for 2028-2029.
  • Middle East conflict has taken approximately 6 million bpd of global refining capacity offline, supporting elevated crack spreads.

Management priorities

  • Expand jet fuel capacity: Robinson jet flexibility project online in Q3 (~10,000 bpd incremental jet).
  • Advance MPLX growth projects including Gulf Coast fractionation and LPG export infrastructure.
  • Execute the new $5 billion buyback authorization while sustaining dividend growth.
  • Optimize renewable diesel operations and complete the Martinez turnaround.
  • Leverage advantaged crude sourcing, including SPR purchases and record Canadian crude volumes.

Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-29T05:31:52.712173+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-29T05:31:52.709485+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 . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.