Diesel Squeeze Puts Valero on Pace for Best Year Ever, Up 140%
VLO has more than doubled off its 52-week low of $155.29.
Summary
Valero shares are up 140.6% year-to-date, putting the refiner on track for its best annual performance on record, surpassing the roughly 128% gain in 2005. The surge is driven by a diesel crack spread near $106 per barrel, up from about $33 in January, fueled by the Hormuz disruption, Russian export bans after drone strikes, and winter restocking into depleted inventories. Valero and Marathon Petroleum more than doubled per-barrel refining margins in Q2 and returned over $5 billion to shareholders. This follows Valero's Q2 EPS beat of $12.54 vs $10.12 consensus and a $5 billion buyback expansion announced in July. The VanEck Oil Refiners ETF has rallied 71% year-to-date, reflecting broad sector strength. Watch for any reversal in diesel spreads or geopolitical de-escalation that could pressure refining margins.
At the time of this announcement, VLO was trading at $394.06 on NYSE in the Energy & Transportation sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $113.5B. The 52-week trading range was $155.29 to $399.76. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Benzinga.