Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC) beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations by a mile as refining margins surged in the latter part of 2025.
One of the biggest U.S. refiners on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter adjusted net income of $1.2 billion, or $4.07 per share, trouncing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.72 earnings per share in The Wall Street Journal.
The fourth quarter of 2025 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) jumped to $3.5 billion, compared with $2.1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, mostly as a result of higher refining margins.
In the Refining & Marketing (R&M) segment, Marathon Petroleum’s adjusted EBITDA nearly quadrupled to $1.997 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from $559 million for the same period of 2024.
The refining and marketing margin jumped to $18.65 per barrel for the fourth quarter of 2025, versus $12.93 per barrel for the fourth quarter of 2024.
Crude capacity utilization was 95%, resulting in total throughput of 3.0 million barrels per day (bpd) for the fourth quarter of 2025.
“R&M margin results were driven by higher crack spreads compared to the fourth quarter of 2024,” Marathon Petroleum said.
“In 2025, strong refining operational performance and commercial execution drove cash flow generation,” chairman, president and CEO Maryann Mannen said in a statement.
“The deployment of MPC capital enhances our competitiveness in each of the regions where we operate. In Midstream, MPLX is investing to execute its natural gas and NGL growth strategies.”
Following the results release, Marathon Petroleum’s stock jumped by 4% on the NYSE in pre-market trade on Tuesday.
The strong earnings from Marathon Petroleum follow last week’s earnings release by Valero, which also beat analyst estimates of fourth-quarter earnings, due to improved refining margins and higher throughput volumes.
Strong refining margins boosted Valero’s net income, as the refining margin per barrel of throughput surged to $13.61 for the fourth quarter of 2025 from $8.44 for the same period of 2024.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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