Bull of the Day: Marathon Petroleum (MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corp. MPC is in a golden age of refining. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow earnings 341% year-over-year as crack spreads hit record highs.

Marathon Petroleum (“MPC”) is an integrated downstream and midstream energy company. Headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, it operates 13 refineries, the largest refining system in the United States. MPC has a crude oil refining capacity of about 3 million barrels per calendar day.

Marathon Petroleum’s marketing system includes gas station locations across the United States, including Marathon and ARCO retail outlets.

MPC also owns the general partner and majority limited partner interest in MPLX LP, a midstream company that owns and operates gathering, processing, and fractionation assets, as well as crude oil and light product transportation and logistics infrastructure.

High Crack Spreads Drove Marathon’s Second Quarter 2026 Results

On Aug 4, 2026, Marathon Petroleum reported its second quarter 2026 results and beat the Zacks Consensus on earnings by 22%. It was the third earnings beat in a row.

The Refining & Marketing margin was $36.33 per barrel for the second quarter of 2026, up from $17.58 in the prior year’s quarter.

Crude capacity utilization was 94%. The stellar results were driven by higher crack spreads in all regions.

Analysts Can’t Keep Up as MPC’s Earnings Continue to Rise

The crack spreads continue to move higher which means so will MPC’s earnings.

One estimate for 2026 was raised in just the last week pushing the Zacks Consensus up to $47.23 from $46.66.

However, the Most Accurate Estimate, which is the most recent one, was raised to $53.69.

How dramatic is the earnings increase this year?

Marathon Petroleum only made $10.70 in 2025. That’s earnings growth of 341.4% at the Zacks Consensus of $47.23 and it’s even higher if the Most Accurate Estimate of $53.69 holds up.

Here’s what it looks like on the price and consensus chart.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Higher Margins Means More Cash

MPC is awash in cash. This is the golden age for refiners.

As of June 30, 2026, the company had $7.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents, including $1 billion of cash at MPLX.

It’s giving back a lot of it to shareholders. In the second quarter of 2026, Marathon returned $2.8 billion to shareholders in share repurchases and a dividend. As of June 30, 2026, it had $6.1 billion remaining on the share repurchase authorization.

It’s dividend is $4.00 per share annually, which is yielding 1%.

Shares of Marathon Petroleum Soar in 2026

Not surprisingly, the refiners have been the place to park your money in 2026. Shares of Marathon Petroleum are up 125% year-to-date to new highs.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Yet Marathon is still cheap on a price-to-earnings (P/E) basis because the “E,” or earnings, keeps going up even as the stock price does.

MPC has a PEG ratio of 0.25. A PEG under 1.0 indicates a company has both growth and value.

In addition to being a Strong Buy stock, Marathon also has the top Zacks Style Scores of A for Value, A for Momentum, and A for Growth.

Only 7 companies in the entire Zacks screening universe of over 4400 stocks currently meet these criteria of having both the top Zacks Rank and the top Style Scores.

Buying a refining stock is a short-term trade. No one knows what is going to happen to the crack spreads in 2027. 

But for investors looking for a way to cash in on high diesel and gasoline prices today, Marathon Petroleum should be on your short list.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research