Aramco Q3 profit jumps 41% to $36.6 billion, beating forecasts

Summary

• Aramco said third-quarter net profit rose 41.3% to 137.39 billion riyals, far above analyst estimates.
• Revenue climbed 20.2% to 464.3 billion riyals on higher crude, refined and chemical product prices.
• The company declared 82.07 billion riyals in dividends, payable in the fourth quarter.

The latest

Saudi Aramco posted a 41.3% jump in third-quarter net profit to 137.39 billion riyals, well clear of the 113.6 billion riyals analysts had projected. The company said Tuesday that revenue rose 20.2% to 464.3 billion riyals, helped by stronger product prices and a gain booked on the sale of its stake in an affiliated company.

Details

• The headline number: Net profit reached 137.39 billion riyals in the third quarter of 2026, against 97.26 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier, according to the company's announcement. The result exceeded the market consensus of 113.6 billion riyals by roughly 21 billion riyals.
• Revenue: Top-line income rose to 464.3 billion riyals from 386.17 billion riyals a year earlier, Aramco said, beating forecasts of 421.7 billion riyals. The company attributed the increase to higher prices for refined products, chemicals and crude oil.
• What offset it: Aramco said the revenue gain was partly offset by lower sold volumes of crude oil, refined products and chemicals. On the profit line, higher operating costs partly absorbed the increase driven by revenue and other sales-related income.
• The one-off: Part of the profit came from a recognized gain tied to the sale of Aramco's ownership stake in an affiliated company. The statement did not name the affiliate, the size of the stake, or the value of the gain booked in the quarter.
• Adjusted income: Adjusted net income reached 117 billion riyals in the third quarter, up from 107.2 billion riyals a year earlier — a far narrower increase than the headline profit figure, which carried the asset-sale gain.
• Cash flow: Cash flow from operating activities totaled 145.2 billion riyals, up from 135.4 billion riyals a year earlier. Free cash flow in the quarter ended September reached 105.8 billion riyals, compared with 88.4 billion riyals in the same period of 2025.
• Balance sheet: The gearing ratio fell to 5.5% at the end of September, down from 6.2% at the close of the second quarter, according to the company.
• The payout: Aramco declared cash dividends of 82.07 billion riyals, or 21.9 billion dollars, equal to 0.3393 riyals per share for the third quarter. The distribution is about 3.5% higher year on year and will be paid during the fourth quarter.

Between the lines

The gap between the two profit measures is the story's fine print: adjusted net income rose about 9%, while reported profit rose 41.3%. The difference reflects the affiliate stake sale. With sold volumes down across crude, refined products and chemicals, the operating performance rests on pricing rather than output.

What's next

The dividend of 82.07 billion riyals is due for payment during the fourth quarter. Watch whether product prices hold up the next quarterly print, given that sold volumes declined across all three categories this period.

Source: ⁦ontime+⁩