The Oil Trade May Not Be Over: 3 Energy Stocks to Watch

Key Points

• Oil prices are expected to remain high for the foreseeable future, underpinning a healthy outlook for energy sector profits.
• Capital returns include dividends and share buybacks, either of which may accelerate as the year progresses.
• The June WTI price dip led oil stocks to decline, opening an opportunity for investors to load up.

If you are reading the news and thinking the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz ends today’s oil problems, think again. Shipping has started to resume, but normal flows may take weeks or months to recover as markets work through disrupted logistics, damaged infrastructure and depleted inventories.

The Iran conflict disrupted a meaningful share of global oil flows, including production, refining and shipping activity. Even with the Strait moving back toward normal operations, oil markets may remain tight through the summer as traders watch weekly storage data and the pace of supply recovery.

Oil Prices Won't Stay Down Long

WTI’s pullback looks encouraging for oil bears, with prices sharply below their 2026 highs as of mid-June. The caveat for oil bears is that the June price drop found support above $75, suggesting the market may not be ready to price in a full return to normal supply conditions. Catalysts will be dwindling storage levels, as reported weekly throughout the summer. Don’t forget, it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the most heavily populated half of the Earth and the most active oil-burning period.

The takeaway for investors is that energy companies, specifically producers and refiners, are well-positioned. Not only is demand high for their product, but high prices mean high margins. Add in the fact that the sector has invested heavily in efficiency and quality over the past few years, and the odds are high that windfall profits are on the way.

Energy-sector earnings estimates have moved sharply higher, but they may still leave room for upside if crude prices rebound and demand remains firm. Estimates, which have more than doubled over the trailing-90-day period, forecast more than 120% earnings per share (EPS) growth in the current quarter and 65% for the year. The likely outcome is that economic strength underpins sector outperformance in Q2, and the upcoming WTI price rebound underpins it in the longer term.

ExxonMobil: Highly Efficient Cash Flow and Capital Return Machine

ExxonMobil NYSE: XOM is among the leading plays on high oil prices because it is the world’s largest integrated oil company, excluding China and Saudi Arabia, with major assets in critical energy-producing regions such as Guyana and the Permian Basin. Details that interest investors include its low break-even cost, which sets the stage for industry-leading free cash flow and capital returns. With oil prices high and expected to rise, it is well-positioned to benefit and offers investors the added benefit of diversification. The downstream and chemical segments provide some insulation from commodity price changes.

ExxonMobil’s dividend is not the highest among energy companies, but it is substantial, yielding nearly 3% as of mid-June. The payout is reliable, having been increased annually for more than 40 years, and the payout ratio remains manageable at around 69% of earnings. Looking ahead, the payout is likely to continue increasing at a modest single-digit rate; buybacks will catalyze share price gains.

Unlike most other energy companies, Exxon’s operational quality enabled it to sustain aggressive buybacks despite lower oil prices. The story today is that it can accelerate repurchases, while many of them will need to divert some of the windfall cash flow toward debt payments and reduction.

ConocoPhillips: A Pure Play on Producer Margins

ConocoPhillips NYSE: COP shares qualities with ExxonMobil, including low-cost operations and ample cash flow. Among the differences is the business model, which is a pure-play on production. This sets the company up for more pronounced upside as oil prices spike, but also to volatility once they peak. The critical factor is the capital return, which includes a 3% dividend yield and share buybacks, likely to be accelerated in upcoming quarters.

ConocoPhillips' capital return is unique in that it is tied to free cash flow. In this scenario, the company will pay larger dividends and buy back more shares as oil prices rise. The silver lining is that deceleration is already expected, as any downticks in oil prices, margins, and cash flow will also be reflected in the payments. The difference today is that COP is shifting away from a variable payout structure toward more regular payments; these changes in cash flow will be reflected in buyback activity.

Valero Energy Cracks Down on Oil Profits

Valero Energy NYSE: VLO is a top play on higher prices because it is a pure-play, independent refiner exposed to crack spreads rather than oil prices. While higher oil prices raise costs, higher realized profits make them moot. The takeaway for investors is that cash flow is growing in 2026, sufficient to enable capital returns while building cash on the balance sheet. Capital return includes dividends yielding around 2% and share buybacks, which reduced the count by an average of 5.1% on a trailing-12-month basis as of Q1.

Analysts' trends are bullish for these stocks. MarketBeat data reveals sufficient coverage for conviction, with an average of 23 covering each. They are collectively rated as Moderate Buys with a bullish bias and uptrends in their share prices. Valero has the tamest outlook, with consensus forecasting only modest upside, but its trend is toward the high end of the range, adding double digits, putting this market at a fresh all-time high. Exxon and ConocoPhillips have modest double-digit upside relative to their consensus figures, with high-end ranges in fresh all-time-high territory.