Chevron third quarter 2026 earnings explained: segments, EPS and valuation multiples

Chevron reported its third quarter 2026 results on October 30, 2026. For the three months ended September 30 its earnings under GAAP, the standard US accounting rules, fell 17.8% from the second quarter to $9,924 million, and its adjusted earnings, a non GAAP measure Chevron reports itself, fell 13.5% to $10,361 million (Dalsna Finance calculation for the changes). Sales fell 2.9% over the same period (Dalsna Finance calculation). This article walks through what the company does, how each part of the business performed and what the numbers say about its valuation. Every figure is sourced and dated, and every number worked out by us is labelled as a Dalsna Finance calculation. ^[1][2]

Chevron in brief

Chevron describes itself as an integrated energy company. It produces crude oil and natural gas and makes transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and additives. It also develops technology for its own business and the wider industry. The company is based in Houston, Texas, and its common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CVX. It acquired Hess Corporation on July 18, 2025, so both quarters compared here include Hess. ^[1][3]

"We delivered strong operational performance and disciplined execution, while continuing to invest to grow energy supply," said Mike Wirth, chairman and chief executive officer, in the release. Chevron said its US upstream production topped 2 million barrels of oil equivalent a day for a fifth quarter in a row and its US refineries ran record crude volumes. ^[1]

Four reporting lines and All Other

Chevron reports two segments, Upstream and Downstream, and splits each into the United States and International. Upstream produces oil and other liquids and natural gas. Downstream runs refineries and sells refined products. A fifth line, All Other, holds corporate costs and activities such as cash management, debt financing, administration, insurance, real estate and Chevron's technology companies, and it was a net charge in both quarters. ^[1][3]

Chevron explains its segment results against the third quarter of 2025, not against the second quarter, so the drivers here are year over year. US upstream earnings rose mainly on higher liquids prices and lower operating costs, helped by the absence of Hess severance and transaction costs booked a year earlier. International upstream rose mainly on higher prices and higher liftings in Venezuela, partly offset by unfavorable timing effects, taxes and currency effects, a legal reserve and an impairment. Both downstream lines gained mainly from higher margins on refined product sales, and international downstream did so despite unfavorable timing effects. ^[1]

Against the second quarter, the average Brent crude price Chevron reports fell to $97 a barrel from $104, its US liquids realization fell to $62.72 a barrel from $70.80 and its international liquids realization fell to $86.09 from $96.41. Timing effects, which Chevron says come from marking derivatives to market before the matching oil and gas is delivered and from LIFO inventory accounting, reduced third quarter earnings by $1,580 million after adding $1,540 million in the second quarter, as shown in the third quarter release. The second quarter release had put that quarter's favorable timing effects at $1.4 billion. ^[1][2]

Adjusted earnings leave out what Chevron calls special items and foreign currency effects, but not timing effects. In the third quarter Chevron added back $294 million of special items, a $160 million legal reserve and a $110 million impairment in international upstream and $24 million of pension settlement costs, plus $143 million of foreign currency losses. In the second quarter it removed a net $144 million of special items, a $230 million asset sale gain less $86 million of pension costs, and added back $49 million of currency losses. ^[1][2]

Production and refining volumes

Net oil equivalent production averaged 3,980 thousand barrels a day in the third quarter against 4,070 thousand in the second. Against a year earlier, Chevron said output was lower mainly because higher prices cut its entitlement volumes and because of the Middle East conflict, partly offset by record output at the assets it operates in Australia, more production in the Gulf of America and one month of Venezuela production after it switched that business to equity accounting in the quarter. ^[1]

US refineries ran a record 1.09 million barrels a day of crude, with crude unit utilization of nearly 98%, as reported. International refinery inputs and product sales rose from the second quarter. Against a year earlier, Chevron said international product sales fell 9% because of supply disruptions from the Middle East conflict. ^[1]

The numbers, quarter over quarter

Sales and other operating revenues were $65,237 million in the third quarter against $67,199 million in the second. Chevron does not report gross profit or an operating income line, so this article uses the lines it does report. Income before income tax expense fell to $13,625 million from $16,684 million, and net income attributable to Chevron fell to $9,924 million from $12,072 million. ^[1][2]

Profit margin is earnings as a share of sales. On GAAP earnings it was 15.2% in the third quarter against 18.0% in the second, and on adjusted earnings it was 15.9% against 17.8% (Dalsna Finance calculation: for example $9,924 million divided by $65,237 million). Income tax expense took 26.3% of pretax income in the third quarter and 26.8% in the second (Dalsna Finance calculation: income tax expense divided by income before income tax expense). ^[1][2]

Against the third quarter of 2025, GAAP earnings were about 2.8 times the $3,539 million of a year earlier and sales rose 35.4% from $48,169 million (Dalsna Finance calculation). Chevron said the year over year rise in reported earnings came mainly from reliable operations, higher refined product margins and higher crude prices, partly offset by unfavorable timing effects as prices rose. ^[1]

Cash flow and the balance sheet

Cash flow from operations was $16,014 million in the third quarter. Chevron said it was higher than a year earlier because of higher earnings and larger cash distributions from Tengizchevroil. Free cash flow, a non GAAP measure Chevron defines as operating cash flow less capital expenditures, was $12,003 million after $4,011 million of capital spending. Chevron said its adjusted free cash flow of $14,243 million was helped by a $1 billion loan repayment from Tengizchevroil and by asset sale proceeds. ^[1]

The cash flow statement shows $3,482 million paid in common stock dividends and $2,502 million paid for shares repurchased in the quarter, as reported. A footnote in the release says the repurchase payments for the nine months to September 30, 2026 include $114 million of excise tax paid on prior year repurchases. Chevron said total debt fell by a further $3.5 billion and net debt by $7.8 billion in the quarter. Total debt was $33,534 million and cash and cash equivalents $12,804 million at September 30, 2026, in the release's preliminary balance sheet data. ^[1]

Earnings per share

Earnings per share, or EPS, is profit divided by the number of shares. The diluted figure also counts shares that could be created from stock awards. Chevron reported diluted EPS of $5.06 for the third quarter and $6.11 for the second, and adjusted EPS of $5.28 and $6.06. Adjusted EPS uses adjusted earnings in place of GAAP earnings. Dividing each earnings figure by the weighted average diluted share count gives the same figures. ^[1][2]

The quarterly report for the third quarter had not been filed when this article was written, so the valuation below uses the 1,975,771,274 shares on the cover of the second quarter report, outstanding on June 30, 2026, which is the latest cover count. The third quarter release puts shares outstanding at 1,951 million at September 30, 2026, a count that leaves out 14 million shares associated with Chevron's Benefit Plan Trust. ^[3][1]

What the market values Chevron at

Market capitalization, or market cap, is what the stock market values the whole company at: the share price times the number of shares. Chevron shares closed at $235.52 on Friday, October 30, 2026, the day of the results, as reported by StockAnalysis. Times the 1,975,771,274 cover shares, that gives a market cap of about $465.3 billion (Dalsna Finance calculation). ^[4][3]

Six valuation multiples

The price to earnings ratio, or P/E, is market cap divided by a year of earnings. It shows how many dollars the market is paying for each dollar of yearly profit. Annualised means one quarter multiplied by four. On GAAP earnings of $9,924 million times 4, or $39,696 million, the annualised P/E is 11.7. On adjusted earnings of $10,361 million times 4, or $41,444 million, the adjusted annualised P/E is 11.2 (Dalsna Finance calculation). ^[1][4][3]

A forward P/E uses a published estimate of future earnings. MarketBeat reported a consensus estimate of $4.87 per share for the third quarter alone, against which it compared Chevron's adjusted EPS of $5.28, but that covers one quarter, not a year. We did not find a dated full year 2026 earnings estimate, made after the second quarter results, that we could open and check against its source, so this article shows no forward P/E or adjusted forward P/E rather than use an unverified number. ^[5]

A trailing P/E, sometimes called a historical P/E, uses the last four reported quarters. GAAP earnings over the four quarters to September 30, 2026 add up to $26,976 million and adjusted earnings to $28,159 million, giving a trailing P/E of 17.2 and an adjusted trailing P/E of 16.5 (Dalsna Finance calculation). Both sit above the annualised multiples because the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 earned much less. Chevron said first quarter 2026 earnings carried about $2.9 billion of unfavorable timing effects. ^{[1][2][6][4][3]}

The last four quarters

Every figure here is as reported by Chevron in one of its earnings releases. The fourth quarter 2025 figures come from the comparison column of the first quarter 2026 release. The second and third quarters of 2026 carried most of the four quarters' earnings (Dalsna Finance calculation: $21,996 million of $26,976 million of GAAP earnings). ^[6][2][1]

Two base cases: the third quarter held flat for a year

Suppose sales stayed at the third quarter's level for a full year, with no growth and no decline: $65,237 million times 4, or $260,948 million. The first base case keeps the 15.2% GAAP profit margin, which gives earnings of $39,696 million, or $20.09 per share on the cover share count. This case is simply the latest quarter annualised, so at the annualised P/E it returns the October 30, 2026 close of $235.52 by construction. The other cells only show how the price moves when the same earnings are given a different multiple. ^[1][4][3]

The second base case uses the 15.9% adjusted margin, which leaves out the legal reserve, the impairment, the pension costs and the foreign currency effects in the same way Chevron's adjusted earnings do: $41,444 million a year, or $20.98 per share. At the adjusted annualised P/E it also returns $235.52 by construction. Both cases still carry the unfavorable timing effects, because Chevron's adjusted earnings do. Chevron reports no operating income line, so there is no operating margin case, and we make no adjustment of our own. ^[1][3][4]

No CEO scenario follows. In the release and on the October 30, 2026 call Chevron gave no revenue figure for a future year, so there is no management revenue figure to put on the grid. ^[1][5]

What to watch

Chevron declared a dividend of $1.78 per share, payable on December 10, 2026 to holders of record on November 18, the same amount as the dividend paid in September. On October 6, 2026 it said it would divest its interests in Hess Midstream LP and its DJ Basin crude oil midstream assets, and that its preliminary assessment points to a one time after tax loss of about $3 billion to $4 billion when the deal closes, which it expects to treat as a special item (company estimate, as stated in the filing). The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. On the call chief financial officer Eimear Bonner said the deal would close at the end of the fourth quarter and that the loss reflects the accounting for the deconsolidation rather than the deal economics (a company expectation, paraphrased from MarketBeat's transcript of the October 30, 2026 call). ^[1][2][7][5]

Bonner also said Chevron had kept its share buyback rate at $2.5 billion to $3 billion and intends to keep buying within that range (a company expectation, paraphrased from the same transcript). Chevron said its Venezuelan joint ventures plan $7 billion of investment over five years (a company plan, as stated in the release). From January 1, 2027 Jeff Gustavson becomes chief financial officer and Bonner becomes President, Oil, Products & Gas, under officer elections the board approved on September 30, 2026. The next report will show whether the Hess Midstream sale closed and, if it did, what loss Chevron recorded. ^[5][1][8]

How these figures were made: inputs come from Chevron's earnings releases for the first three quarters of 2026 and its second quarter 2026 quarterly report on SEC EDGAR, plus the dated closing price named above. Calculations use unrounded inputs and are rounded only at the end, with multiples to one decimal and per share figures and prices to the cent. ^{[1][2][6][3][4]}