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Thu, 29 Oct 2026
BreakingEarnings

Shell raises buyback to $5bn after $10.8bn adjusted profit tops estimates

Adjusted earnings beat the $10.33bn average of a company-provided analyst poll, Reuters said, adding Shell trimmed its 2026 cash capex outlook; Shell sees a non-cash Q4 pension loss of about $6.4bn.

By AI markets desk·Sources: 5 sources·Published ·AI-generated·3 min read
Key facts
  • Adjusted Earnings (non-GAAP) · Q3 202610.81 $bn vs $10.33bn estimate cited by Reuters
  • Income attributable to shareholders · Q3 202612.06 $bn $5.32bn in Q3 2025
  • New share buyback · Announced 29 October 20265.0 $bn For roughly the next three months
  • 2026 cash capex outlook (non-GAAP) · Outlook issued 29 October 202623-25 $bn Was $24bn-$26bn, per Reuters
  • Expected Q4 pension loss (non-cash) · Disclosed 29 October 2026about 6.4 $bn Estimate at 30 September 2026

Shell reported third-quarter 2026 Adjusted Earnings, a non-GAAP measure, of $10.81bn on 29 October 2026, against $9.84bn in the second quarter and $5.43bn a year earlier, according to its unaudited results. That was above the $10.33bn average estimate for Adjusted Earnings in a company-provided poll of analysts, Reuters reported, a beat of about 4.7% by Polstob's calculation. Income attributable to Shell plc shareholders, the IFRS measure, was $12.06bn, against $5.32bn a year earlier, and included a net gain of $0.8bn from identified items. Shell said it had completed the $4.2bn of buybacks announced with its second-quarter results and launched a new $5.0bn programme, which it expects to finish by its fourth-quarter results.

Returns to shareholders
  • BuybackNew share buyback programme$5bnExpected to finish by Q4 2026 results
  • BuybackBuybacks completed from Q2 announcement$4.2bn
  • DividendQ3 2026 interim dividend$0.39 per shareSame as Q2 2026; $0.3580 in Q3 2025

Source: Shell third-quarter 2026 unaudited results (SEC Form 6-K, Exhibit 99.2), Announced 29 October 2026.

Chemicals & Products made Adjusted Earnings of $3.86bn, with Products contributing $3.8bn and Chemicals $0.1bn, the press release shows. Shell's global indicative refining margin was $42 a barrel in the quarter, against $24 in the second quarter, and the company described refining margins as being at a record. Upstream Adjusted Earnings were $3.19bn and Integrated Gas $3.04bn. Cash flow from operating activities was $21.0bn, which Shell said it delivered despite outages in the Middle East, and free cash flow, also a non-GAAP measure, was $16.3bn. Reuters separately reported an impairment of around $2bn across Shell's European biogas business, which it linked to lower expectations for growth in that market.

Shell now expects 2026 cash capital expenditure, a non-GAAP measure, of $23bn-$25bn including the ARC Resources acquisition, which completed on 2 September 2026; Reuters reported that the previous range was $24bn-$26bn. Shell paid $3.34bn in cash and issued about 228m shares for ARC, a purchase consideration of $13.94bn, according to the results report. Net debt fell to $39.7bn at the end of September from $41.8bn at the end of June, and gearing to 16.6% from 18.7%. Shell also approved the second phase of LNG Canada in September, an expansion that will raise the plant's capacity to 28m tonnes a year from 14m.

In London, Shell shares were at 4,034.00 pence at 14:35 GMT (15:35 CET) on 29 October 2026, up 1.96% on the day, according to Google Finance; trading was still open. Shell will report fourth-quarter results with a capital markets update on 4 February 2027.