Shell Q3 2026 results: profit nearly doubles to $10.8bn, buyback raised to $5bn

Shell Q3 results showed adjusted earnings of $10.81bn for the third quarter of 2026. That is almost double the $5.43bn of a year earlier. The figure beat the $9.92bn LSEG consensus quoted by CNBC. It was also the strongest since the second quarter of 2022. Record refining margins did most of the work. As a result, Shell raised its quarterly share buyback to $5bn, from $3bn.

The London-listed shares rose about 3% to an all-time high on Thursday 29 October 2026. Chief executive Wael Sawan pointed to strong operations amid “continued severe disruption to the global energy system”.

Record refining margins drive Shell Q3 results

Shell’s indicative refining margin reached $42 a barrel. That smashed the previous record of $28.04 set in the second quarter of 2022. Consequently, Chemicals and Products earned $3.86bn, the largest of the five main segments. Upstream added $3.19bn, while Integrated Gas made $3.04bn on higher LNG prices and volumes. Marketing contributed $1.16bn.

Income attributable to shareholders was $12.06bn, including a net gain from identified items. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $22.74bn, from $20.71bn in the second quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.93.

Shell Q3 results: cash flow and shareholder returns

Cash flow from operations was $21.0bn, despite outages in the Middle East. Excluding working capital, it reached $21.7bn, well above the $18.18bn analysts expected, Reuters reported. Free cash flow was $16.3bn, up from $10bn a year earlier.

Shell kept its quarterly dividend at $0.3906 per share. The new $5bn buyback will run over the next three months. According to Reuters, it is the second-largest buyback in Shell’s history. Even so, RBC analyst Biraj Borkhataria expects Shell to miss its 40% to 50% payout guidance for 2026. He put the shortfall down to abnormal market conditions.

Debt falls despite the ARC deal

Net debt fell to $39.7bn, from $41.8bn at the end of June 2026. That is notable because Shell completed its $16.4bn acquisition of Canada’s ARC Resources during the quarter. Gearing dropped to 16.6%, or 2.7% excluding leases. In addition, Shell cut its 2026 cash capital spending outlook to $23-25bn, from $24-26bn.

The quarter also brought write-downs. Shell booked an impairment of around $2bn on its European biogas business, Reuters reported. That business includes Nature Energy of Denmark, which Shell bought for $2bn in 2023.

Qatar outage weighs on Shell Q3 results output

Shell produced 2.57 mmboe/d in the quarter. However, its oil and gas output fell 17% in the first nine months of 2026. The war cut volumes from Qatar. An attack damaged one of the two trains at Shell’s Pearl gas-to-liquids plant at Ras Laffan. The plant has restarted at reduced rates, and repairs could take about a year. In contrast, LNG liquefaction volumes rose 12%, helped by the ramp-up at LNG Canada.

What it means

The Shell Q3 results confirm that refiners are the biggest winners of the fuel squeeze. US refiners told a similar story this week, as our analysis of why Valero made $39 a barrel showed. Moreover, CNBC-TV18 reported that Sawan sees current prices as no longer temporary, because global inventories are so depleted.

What comes next

BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron report their third-quarter 2026 results on Friday 30 October 2026. Investors will compare their refining earnings and buybacks with the Shell Q3 results.

For a deeper analysis, read: European Oil Majors in Q3 2026: Why Buybacks Rose Less Than the Refining Windfall