Valero Energy ( NYSE: VLO ) +0.8% pre-market Thursday after Q4 adjusted earnings easily topped Wall Street estimates, as its refineries operated at a 97% capacity utilization rate, the company's best quarter since 2018.
Q4 net income attributable to shareholders tripled Y/Y to $3.1B, or $8.15/share, from $1B, or $2.46/share, for the year-earlier quarter, with operating income in the Refining segment rising to $4.3B from $1.3B a year ago.
Q4 refining throughput volumes averaged 3.04M bbl/day, slightly above the same quarter last year, while refining margins more than doubled to $6.3B from a year earlier.
The company also said its Diamond Green Diesel project adjacent to the Port Arthur refinery in Texas, with a production capacity of 470M gal/year of renewable diesel, was commissioned and started operations in the quarter.
The project, part of a JV between units of Valero ( VLO ) and Darling Ingredients ( DAR ), was completed "under budget and ahead of the original schedule."
Valero ( VLO ) shares have gained 19% so far this year and 76% during the past year .
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Valero Energy tops Q4 estimates, wrapping up best-ever year