Valero Energy Corporation · VLO · FY2025 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2025

Valero’s Q3 beat was led by refining and ethanol strength

The quarter supports a constructive near-term operating case for Valero: refining and ethanol strength, tight fuel inventories and shareholder returns outweighed renewable diesel weakness. The durability of that case depends on margins, crude differentials, policy support and execution of planned projects and the Benicia closure.

Reported Before market openNYSEEnergy $116.98B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $3.66 Consensus $3.05
EPS surprise +20.0% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $32.17B Consensus $29.96B
Revenue surprise +7.4% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move +7.0% Event window
SPY move +0.6% Same window
Abnormal move +6.4% Stock minus SPY
Volume 1.9× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift -1.3% Up to 20 sessions
VLOSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

Compared with the prior-quarter analysis, the reported quarter showed stronger operating momentum: refinery utilization and ethanol performance reached records, shareholder returns increased, and renewable diesel weakened to a loss. The forward plan now includes the $230 million St. Charles FCC optimization project for 2026, while Benicia closure depreciation remains a stated headwind.

Guidance delta

Maintained. Management reaffirmed 2025 capital investment guidance and continued to emphasize shareholder returns.

Key takeaways

  • Q3 net income was $1.1 billion, with earnings above consensus in the supplied scorecard.
  • Refinery utilization reached 97%, while ethanol production and earnings were described as records.
  • Renewable diesel swung to a loss; management expects margin recovery in Q4.
  • Management highlighted a $230 million St. Charles FCC optimization project for 2026 and returned $1.3 billion to shareholders in Q3.

Management priorities

  • Execute the St. Charles FCC optimization project in 2026.
  • Maintain share repurchases using excess free cash flow.
  • Execute the planned 2025 capital investment program while managing the Benicia closure.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
VLO REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 3 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $36B Q4 '23 actual $35B, miss Q1 '24 estimate $32B Q1 '24 actual $32B, miss Q2 '24 estimate $33B Q2 '24 actual $34B, beat Q3 '24 estimate $31B Q3 '24 actual $33B, beat Q2 '25 estimate $28B Q2 '25 actual $30B, beat Q3 '25 estimate $30B Q3 '25 actual $32B, beat Q4 '25 estimate $29B Q4 '25 actual $30B, beat Q1 '26 estimate $31B Q1 '26 actual $32B, beat Q2 '26 estimate $39B Q2 '26 actual $44B, beat Q3 '26 estimate $41B Q4 '26 estimate $32B Q1 '27 estimate $30B
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy36 ratings
Bullish2055.5%
Neutral1541.7%
Bearish12.8%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$406.3Current
$85Low
$240.06Average
$457High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 4, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

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

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
B of A Securities Neutral NeutralMaintainOct 2, 2026
Goldman Sachs Buy BuyMaintainSep 23, 2026
Jefferies Hold BuyDowngradeSep 22, 2026
Raymond James Strong Buy Strong BuyMaintainSep 14, 2026
Morgan Stanley Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainSep 14, 2026
Show 31 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $406.3. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Goldman SachsAnalyst unavailable$457$377.14 +12.5%Sep 23, 2026
JefferiesAnalyst unavailable$401$393.27 -1.3%Sep 21, 2026
Raymond JamesAnalyst unavailable$450$387.6 +10.8%Sep 14, 2026
Morgan StanleyJoe Laetsch$411$398.34 +1.2%Sep 14, 2026
UBSAnalyst unavailable$450$370.72 +10.8%Sep 8, 2026
See 94 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Valero Energy Corporation functions as a global producer and marketer of transportation fuels and petrochemicals, with operations spanning the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and other international territories. The company organizes its business across three primary divisions: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol. Its Refining segment generates a wide array of products, including various types of gasoline (conventional, premium, reformulated, and California Air Resources Board-compliant), diverse diesel fuels (low-sulfur, ultra-low-sulfur, and CARB diesel), jet fuels, blendstocks, asphalts, petrochemicals, and lubricants. This division also handles the sale of lube oils and natural gas liquids. As of the end of 2021, Valero managed 15 petroleum refineries, boasting a combined daily processing capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels of crude oil. The Ethanol division comprises 12 plants, capable of producing around 1.6 billion gallons of ethanol annually.…

Historical context

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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 · 2026-10-04T07:20:43.962607+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-04T07:20:43.959872+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 2026-10-04. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.