Oil prices surge as the biggest boost! Marathon Petroleum (MPC.US) up over 200% this year, outperforming major chip giants; shares hit a 52-week high and remain bullish

According to Zhihui Finance APP, Marathon Petroleum (MPC.US) has shown an exceptionally strong performance this year, with its share price rising even more than leading technology and chip companies. Data indicates that since the beginning of the year, the refiner’s share price has soared by over 200%, outperforming a range of chip stocks such as NVIDIA (NVDA.US), Intel (INTC.US), AMD (AMD.US), Qualcomm (QCOM.US), and Broadcom (AVGO.US). This strong performance has allowed the stock to outpace major energy and technology ETFs, including the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE), VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), and Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ).

There is no doubt that the surge in oil prices, which has widened refining spreads (crack spreads) and boosted fees and throughput for its midstream operations, has been an important driver of the refiner’s robust performance. Marathon Petroleum’s second quarter results showed its revenue grew over 5% year-on-year to $52.33 billion, far exceeding analysts’ consensus estimate of $41.44 billion; earnings per share reached $17.73, much higher than Q2 2025’s EPS of $3.96. The company’s refining and marketing profit margin for the second quarter also rose sharply, reaching $36.33 per barrel, compared to $17.58 per barrel a year earlier.

In addition, during the second quarter, Marathon Petroleum completed two high-return refining investments aimed at improving product yield. These involved the El Paso refinery in Texas and the Robinson refinery in Illinois.

Marathon Petroleum stated that the product yield improvement investment at the El Paso refinery enhanced the facility’s capability to produce specialty gasoline, serving the El Paso, Phoenix, and Mexico markets, further solidifying “its geographic advantage and competitive position.” Meanwhile, the investment in the Robinson refinery has enabled the company to produce an additional 10 thousand barrels of jet fuel per day to meet the growing demand in the regional market.

Marathon Petroleum will announce its third quarter results on November 3. The company expects its refineries’ total throughput to reach 3.005 million barrels per day, including 2.82 million barrels of crude oil processed daily, as well as 185 thousand barrels of other feedstocks and blending components per day.

Marathon Petroleum has set a new 52-week high of $493.98. Despite the significant share price increase, investment bank Raymond James still believes the stock has further upside potential. The firm raised its target price for Marathon Petroleum from $445 to $560 and maintained an “outperform” rating. Based on the latest closing price, this target suggests there is still nearly 16% upside potential.

Meanwhile, Koyfin data shows that among 19 analysts covering the stock, 9 have given it a “buy” or higher rating, while another 9 have given a “hold” rating. Only 1 analyst has assigned a “sell” rating to the stock. However, the 12-month average target price for Marathon Petroleum’s shares is $442.33, suggesting the stock has more than 6% downside potential compared to the latest closing price.