ExxonMobil (XOM) reported net income of $14.53B for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, against $7.08B a year earlier, and generated $17.03B of free cash flow. That is the theme to watch: when energy prices and margins swing up, a large oil company can turn it into cash quickly. The stock closed at $183.21 on Oct. 23, 2026, close to its 52-week high, and the next earnings report is due Oct. 30.
Key facts
- Q2 FY2026 (ended June 30, 2026): revenue was $114.53B and net income was $14.53B. Diluted EPS (earnings per share) was $3.48.
- Year-ago quarter (ended June 30, 2025): revenue was $79.48B and net income was $7.08B. Diluted EPS was $1.64.
- Free cash flow, Q2 FY2026: $17.03B, from operating cash flow of $23.55B less capital expenditure of $6.53B.
- Next earnings, Oct. 30, 2026: analysts' EPS estimate is $4.10 and the revenue estimate is $105.43B.
- Share price, Oct. 23, 2026: $183.21, within a 52-week range of $112.51 to $183.75.
What happened
The theme. Large integrated oil companies, which pump oil and gas, refine it and sell chemicals, earn money in a way that moves sharply with commodity prices and refining margins. When those turn favorable, profit and cash can rise much faster than sales. When they turn, the reverse happens. The point of a theme watch is to see how a company handles those swings: how much it invests, how much it returns to owners, and how much debt it carries.
The quarter. ExxonMobil's revenue in the quarter ended June 30, 2026 was $114.53B, up 44.1% from the year-ago quarter. Net income was up 105.1%. Operating income was $18.20B, compared with $8.91B a year earlier. Per its earnings date of July 31, 2026, the company reported EPS of $3.52 against an analyst estimate of $3.56, a miss of $0.04. Revenue of $116.02B beat the estimate of $109.94B by $6.08B. The two EPS and revenue sets differ slightly (the later filing shows $3.48 and $114.53B), so treat them as the preliminary and filed versions of the same quarter.
The trend. Over five quarters, the picture was uneven until this one:
- Operating margin (operating income as a share of revenue) was 11.2% in the quarter ended June 30, 2025 and 11.0% in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025.
- It slipped to 6.4% in the quarter ended March 31, 2026, when net income fell to $4.18B.
- It then rose to 15.9% in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, the highest of the five.
- Gross margin in the March 2026 quarter was unusually high, yet operating margin was the lowest of the five. That mismatch suggests costs or other items below gross profit mattered that quarter. FMP's data does not say which, and no earnings-call transcript was provided for this piece, so we cannot quote management on the cause.
Segments. In the year-ago quarter, FMP breaks revenue into Energy Products at $41.51B, Upstream (finding and producing oil and gas) at $13.43B, Chemical Products at $4.62B and Specialty Products at $3.27B. For the latest quarter FMP reports only a combined sales and operating revenue line of $114.53B, plus $893.0M of income from equity affiliates, so a like-for-like segment comparison is not possible. By geography, Non-US revenue was $63.64B and Canada was $10.29B.
Why it matters for investors
Cash returns held steady. In the June 2026 quarter ExxonMobil spent $5.14B on buybacks and $4.30B on dividends. In the March 2026 quarter, when free cash flow was only $2.23B, it paid out $4.87B in buybacks and $4.33B in dividends. In other words, the payout did not swing with the cash. That consistency is a feature of the business, but it also means shareholder returns in weaker quarters were funded by more than that quarter's free cash flow.
The balance sheet is sturdy. As of June 30, 2026, cash and short-term investments were $10.59B against total debt of $42.37B, for net debt of $31.78B on shareholders' equity of $259.38B. Debt/equity is 0.16. The Piotroski score (a 0-9 health checklist) is 7 and the Altman Z-score (a bankruptcy-risk gauge, where higher is safer) is 4.87.
Valuation versus peers. On a trailing-12-month basis, ExxonMobil trades at a P/E of 23.58, price/sales of 2.09, EV/EBITDA of 10.93 and price/free cash flow of 24.66. The dividend yield is 2.2% and net margin is 9.1%. For comparison:
| Company | Market cap | P/E | Net margin | |---|---|---|---| | ExxonMobil (XOM) | $753.34B | 23.58 | 9.1% | | Chevron (CVX) | $460.77B | 22.27 | 9.9% | | BP | $134.59B | 24.79 | 2.5% | | Imperial Oil (IMO) | $65.19B | 21.06 | 7.8% | | Cenovus (CVE) | $60.64B | 12.74 | 12.4% |
ExxonMobil is priced in line with Chevron and BP on earnings, and above Imperial Oil and Cenovus. Chevron's net margin is a little higher than ExxonMobil's.
Analysts. Of 55 ratings, 1 is strong buy, 20 are buy, 30 are hold and 4 are sell, which gives a consensus of "Hold". The average price target is $171.11 and the median is $178.00, with a range of $90.00 to $199.00. The share price of $183.21 on Oct. 23, 2026 is above both the average and the median target. FMP's discounted cash flow model (a model that values a company by its projected future cash) gives $115.74 per share as of Oct. 25, 2026. That is a model estimate, not a forecast from us. Recent rating actions: Wells Fargo cut its rating from Overweight to Equal Weight on Oct. 1, 2026, while Barclays (Oct. 19), Morgan Stanley (Oct. 15) and TD Cowen (Sept. 28) maintained positive ratings.
Our MoonshotScore. Stock Expert AI's MoonshotScore V2 for ExxonMobil is 72.4, labeled Strong. By pillar, safety is 91 and momentum is 86, the strongest areas. Quality is 58, growth is 48 and valuation is 43, the weaker ones. Put simply, the score reflects a stable, well-funded company whose shares have been rising, not one that looks cheap or is growing quickly.
What could go wrong
- Commodity exposure. The five-quarter trend shows how quickly earnings can change. Net income was $4.18B in the March 2026 quarter and $14.53B in the next. A reversal in prices or margins could move results the other way.
- Valuation. The stock is near its 52-week high and above the analyst average target, and the valuation pillar of our score is low at 43.
- Long-range estimates. FMP lists analyst estimates for periods ending in 2029 with EPS of $2.31 and $2.09, below the recent quarterly EPS. Those are few-analyst estimates for distant periods and carry wide ranges (revenue from $66.00B to $107.30B for the September 2029 period), but they point to expectations of a cooling from the recent peak.
- Rating mix. Most analysts say hold, and one major firm downgraded the stock this month.
What to watch next
- Oct. 30, 2026 earnings: the EPS estimate is $4.10 and the revenue estimate is $105.43B. Last quarter EPS came in slightly under its estimate while revenue beat.
- Margins: whether operating margin holds near the June quarter's 15.9% or returns toward earlier levels.
- Cash conversion: whether free cash flow stays well above the $2.23B to $6.06B range of the prior four quarters.
- Payouts: whether buybacks and dividends stay near $5B and $4B per quarter.
- Analyst moves: further rating or target changes after the report.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How much did ExxonMobil earn in the second quarter of 2026?
In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, ExxonMobil reported net income of $14.53B and diluted EPS of $3.48 in its filed results, on revenue of $114.53B. A year earlier, net income was $7.08B and diluted EPS was $1.64.
Q: When does ExxonMobil report next, and what do analysts expect?
The next earnings date is Oct. 30, 2026. Analysts expect EPS of $4.10 and revenue of $105.43B, according to FMP data.
Q: Is ExxonMobil stock expensive compared with other oil companies?
By trailing earnings it sits in the middle to upper part of its peer group. Its P/E is 23.58, compared with 22.27 for Chevron, 24.79 for BP, 21.06 for Imperial Oil and 12.74 for Cenovus. The share price of $183.21 on Oct. 23, 2026 is above the analyst average target of $171.11. This is information, not advice to buy or sell.
This is educational content, not investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.