KEY POINTS
- TotalEnergies raised its dividend by 5.9% and doubled share buybacks to $1.5 billion for Q2.
- Adjusted net income surged 29% to $5.4 billion, beating analyst expectations of $5 billion.
- The refining and chemicals segment more than quintupled earnings to $1.6 billion in Q1 2026.
TotalEnergies delivered a strong first quarter and rewarded shareholders for it. The French energy giant posted adjusted net income of $5.4 billion for the three months ended March 31, a 29% jump from $4.2 billion a year earlier and well above the $5 billion analysts had expected.
The company raised its dividend by 5.9% and doubled its share buyback program to $1.5 billion for the second quarter. TotalEnergies shares rose 1.1% to 79.16 euros in early trading, their highest level in more than two weeks. The stock is up more than 42% year-to-date.
The results were driven by the Iran war. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February pushed Brent crude near $120 a barrel. Tehran’s subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on Gulf neighbors, including a Saudi refinery co-owned by Total, sent energy markets into sustained disruption. That disruption cut into Total’s upstream output by 15% but sent oil prices and trading revenues sharply higher.
The trading windfall
The refining and chemicals segment, which houses Total’s oil and petroleum products trading operations, was the standout. Earnings more than quintupled to $1.6 billion. That kind of gain reflects the premium that market volatility puts on sophisticated trading operations able to move product between regions when normal supply chains break down.
Marketing and services earnings rose 9% to $262 million. The liquefied natural gas segment, including gas and LNG trading, edged up 2% to $1.3 billion despite Iranian strikes damaging LNG facilities in Qatar that supply Total. The integrated power segment, covering gas-fired plants, renewables, batteries and power trading, rose 8% to $545 million. Upstream exploration and production earnings grew 5% to $2.58 billion.
The bigger picture
TotalEnergies is not the only major benefiting from the war’s market distortions. BP reported Tuesday that its own first-quarter net income more than doubled on the same trading dynamics, according to Reuters. European oil majors have broadly outperformed their U.S. peers in the current environment, in part because of greater exposure to LNG and refined products trading.
RBC analyst Biraj Borkhataria described Total’s results as positive and specifically highlighted the dividend increase and the buyback doubling as signals of management confidence in the earnings outlook. The question for investors is how long the war premium in oil prices holds, and whether Total can sustain this level of trading performance once markets stabilize.
