Shell plcSHEL reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $3.86 per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items — the market's preferred measure), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.54 by 9.04%. The bottom line rose 107.5% from $1.86 a year earlier, helped by record refining margins and stronger contributions from Integrated Gas.
Total revenue and other income increased 35.4% year over year to $95.32 billion from $70.41 billion. The figure exceeded the $95.17 billion consensus by 0.16%. Shell's worldwide oil and gas production available for sale averaged 2.57 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR Quote
SHEL's Products Margins Propel Earnings
Chemicals and Products generated $26.49 billion in third-party revenues, up 36.4% from $19.42 billion a year ago. Adjusted segment earnings surged to $3.86 billion from $550 million in the year-ago quarter. Products accounted for $3.75 billion, while Chemicals contributed $103 million.
Global indicative refining margins rose to $42 a barrel from $24 in the prior quarter as markets remained disrupted. Refinery utilization, however, decreased to 96% from 102%, reflecting low Rhine river water levels at Rheinland. Chemical manufacturing utilization improved to 84% from 83%.
Shell's Integrated Gas Gains From Higher Prices
Third-party revenues increased to $13.77 billion from $9.74 billion a year earlier. Adjusted earnings rose to $3.04 billion from $2.14 billion, supported by stronger realized gas and LNG prices and increased sequential volumes.
Integrated Gas production reached 772,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 22.3% sequentially, partly reflecting a month of production from ARC Resources, acquired in September. LNG sales climbed to 19.25 million tonnes from 17.96 million tonnes in the second quarter, although liquefaction volumes slipped to 7.43 million tonnes amid maintenance.
SHEL's Upstream Profits Rise Despite Volume Pressure
Upstream reported third-party revenues of $1.67 billion, compared with $844 million a year earlier. Adjusted earnings climbed 76.8% to $3.19 billion from $1.80 billion, despite softer realized liquids prices than in the second quarter.
Production declined to 1.80 million barrels of oil equivalent per day from 1.83 million a year earlier. Sequentially, realized liquids prices fell to $84 per barrel from $89, while higher exploration well write-offs weighed on earnings compared with the preceding quarter.
Shell's Marketing Softens, Renewables Gain
Marketing's third-party revenues increased to $39.37 billion from $29.65 billion in the year-ago quarter. Marketing sales averaged 2.581 million barrels per day, down 8.6% year over year.
Renewables and Energy Solutions generated $11.55 billion in third-party revenues, versus $8.50 billion a year ago. Adjusted earnings increased to $289 million from $92 million, primarily driven by stronger trading and optimization. External power sales rose to 74 terawatt-hours from 72.
SHEL's Cash Flow Stays Resilient as Debt Falls
Shell generated $21.04 billion in cash flow from operations, up 72.4% from $12.21 billion a year ago, despite $3.2 billion in taxes and outflows for German emissions certificates. Free cash flow was $16.32 billion versus $9.95 billion. Operating expenses eased to $9.03 billion from $9.28 billion.
At September-end, cash and equivalents stood at $36.43 billion, while total debt reached $76.08 billion. Net debt decreased to $39.73 billion from $41.75 billion at June-end, lowering gearing to 16.6% from 18.7%. Quarterly cash capital expenditure totaled $7.92 billion, including ARC acquisition spending.
Shell's Buybacks and Portfolio Actions
SHEL returned $5.3 billion to shareholders, comprising $3.2 billion in repurchases and $2.2 billion in cash dividends. It declared a quarterly dividend of 39.06 cents per ordinary share and announced another $5 billion buyback for completion by the fourth-quarter results. Its shareholder-return policy remains 40%-50% of operating cash flow through the commodity cycle.
Shell completed its ARC Resources purchase in September, adding approximately 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It also approved LNG Canada Phase 2, set to double project capacity to 28 million tonnes annually. Shell's 40% stake entitles it to nearly 6 million tonnes of additional annual LNG volumes.
SHEL's Q4 Outlook Reflects ARC and Spending Discipline
The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company's full-year 2026 cash capital expenditure is projected at $23-$25 billion, down from the previous $24-$26 billion forecast and including ARC. For the fourth quarter, Integrated Gas output is projected at 1.08-1.18 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, with LNG liquefaction volumes of 7.3-7.9 million tonnes.
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Upstream output is forecast at 1.7-1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and Marketing sales are expected at 2.4-2.6 million barrels per day. Refinery utilization is seen at 92%-100%, while Chemicals plant utilization is expected at 78%-86%. Derecognition of a Netherlands defined-benefit pension plan is expected to result in an identified noncash loss, estimated at $6.4 billion as of September 30.
Important Earnings at a Glance
While we have discussed SHEL's third-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at three other key reports in this space.
Kinder Morgan, Inc.KMI reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 35 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 33 cents by 6.1%. Earnings increased 20.7% from 29 cents in the year-ago quarter.
Revenues increased 9.3% year over year to $4.53 billion from $4.15 billion. Revenues surpassed the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion by 3.4%.
Strong quarterly results benefited from higher natural gas transportation and gathering volumes, alongside improved contributions from the Terminals and CO2 businesses.
As of Sept. 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents totaled $918 million, compared with $63 million at 2025-end. Net debt stood at $32.23 billion.
Phillips 66PSX reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $14.08 per share, up 458.7% from $2.52 a year ago. The bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.97 by 17.6%.
Total revenues and other income increased 47.2% to $51.51 billion from $34.98 billion a year earlier. The top line beat the consensus estimate of $33.72 billion by 52.7%.
Stronger refining margins and higher processed volumes supported the results. Refining crude capacity utilization reached 98%, while clean product yield was 86%.
As of Sept. 30, 2026, total debt stood at $18.53 billion, down from $20.57 billion at the end of June. Net debt declined to $12.68 billion at the end of the quarter. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $5.85 billion, while the net debt-to-capital ratio improved to 26%.
NOV Inc.NOV reported third-quarter 2026 earnings of 25 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 24 cents by 4.17%. The bottom line increased 127.3% from the year-ago quarter's 11 cents, supported by improved operational execution and cost efficiencies.
The oil and gas equipment and services company's revenues of $2.23 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.2 billion by 1.2%. Revenues increased 2.3% year over year, driven by growth in Energy Products and Services. Energy Equipment's capital equipment bookings totaled $577 million, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 91%.
As of Sept. 30, 2026, NOV had cash and cash equivalents of $1.06 billion and total debt of $1.71 billion. The company also had $1.5 billion available under its revolving credit facility.
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