Marathon Petroleum stock gains 1.88 percent on earnings

Marathon Petroleum stock was trading at USD 395.67 on the NYSE on September 24, 2026 at 1:02 p.m. ET, up 1.88 percent. The move follows a second quarter in which adjusted earnings per share reached USD 17.73 against a USD 14.52 consensus estimate, according to Yahoo Finance.

Q2 earnings beat consensus

The Q2 2026 result was a 22.1 percent beat on adjusted EPS, while revenue and other income reached USD 52.34 billion, up 53.5 percent from the year-ago quarter, according to Yahoo Finance. The comparison matters because the earnings improvement was much faster than the top-line expansion.

Refining and Marketing adjusted EBITDA rose to USD 6.66 billion from USD 1.89 billion in Q2 2025. The segment's margin reached USD 24.84 per barrel, compared with USD 6.79 a year earlier, while Midstream adjusted EBITDA increased to USD 1.78 billion from USD 1.64 billion.

Refining drives the result

Operational data show the source of the earnings swing. Crude capacity utilization was 94 percent in Q2 2026 versus 97 percent a year earlier, while refined product sales volumes edged up to 3,842 thousand barrels per day from 3,835 thousand barrels per day, according to Yahoo Finance.

That mix gives Marathon Petroleum a different earnings profile from a simple volume story. The key variable was margin capture, which reached 112 percent, while refining operating costs rose to USD 5.72 per barrel from USD 5.34.

Stock remains below yearly high

Marathon Petroleum's current price is USD 35.41 below its 52-week high of USD 431.08 and USD 233.74 above its 52-week low of USD 161.93. Its market capitalization is USD 115,510,885,985 as of September 24, 2026.

Analyst expectations have also moved higher. According to MarketBeat, Goldman Sachs raised its price target from USD 376 to USD 472 and maintained a Buy rating on September 21, 2026. The target change gives the stock a clear valuation reference after the latest earnings beat.