By Tajinder Dhillon
Oil refineries finished reporting 20Q1 earnings, posting positive earnings surprises across the board. Valero Energy (VLO) posted the largest positive surprise with an actual result of $0.34 compared to consensus of $-0.15 as seen in Exhibit 1.
Exhibit 1: S&P 500 20EQ1 Earnings Result for Oil Refiners
While oil refiners beat Wall Street expectations, the outlook for growth remains very challenged. According to I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv, year-over-year earnings growth for the oil & gas refining & marketing sub-industry for 20Q1-20Q4 are expected to be 66.8%, -138.8%, -98.0%, and -94.6% in each