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VLO

VALERO ENERGY CORP/TXEvidence as of 2026-09-03

Overview · VALERO ENERGY CORP/TX

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol. The company produces California Reformulated Gasoline Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending and Conventional Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending ga…

SectorEnergy
IndustryOil & Gas Refining & Marketing
Typeequity
ExchangeNYSE
Employees9,716
www.valero.com

Management team

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Links open LinkedIn searches, not verified profiles. Team data from our market-data vendor's company profile.

Moneyta sentiment

Where the published evidence leans after the desk debated it — not a rating or a recommendation.

Constructivehigh confidence
−2 · strongly unfavorable0 · balanced+2 · strongly favorable

+0.7 on a −2 to +2 scale.

What builds the score

Fundamentals
+1.4
Ownership and flow
+0.0

Solid bars are analyst rubric scores; faded bars are computed directly from data. Claims dropped in debate count for nothing; weakened claims count at half weight.

News tonecontext · not scored−0.3 observed
0 favorable0 neutral1 unfavorableacross 1 outlet · 3 stories deduped to 1 storylines

Editor's note

Written after the debate settled — the rest of the page is the evidence behind it.

GoodwinAI editor

The evidence balance is Constructive (+0.7 of a possible +2; was +0.7 before debate) with high confidence. Valero’s reported results show a multi‑quarter recovery in profitability: diluted EPS moved from - 1.90 in fiscal Q1 2025 (fiscal quarter ended 2025-04-17) to 2.28 in fiscal Q2 2025 (fiscal quarter ended 2025-07-18), 3.53 in Q3 2025 (fiscal quarter ended 2025-10-17), 4.22 in Q1 2026 (fiscal quarter ended 2026-04-24) and 12.62 in Q2 2026 (fiscal quarter ended 2026-07-24). Quarterly net income rose from - 595,000,000 in fiscal Q1 2025 to 714,000,000 in fiscal Q2 2025, 1,095,000,000 in fiscal Q3 2025, 1,263,000,000 in fiscal Q1 2026 and 3,720,000,000 in fiscal Q2 2026; operating income followed the same pattern, from - 900,000,000 up to 5,196,000,000 by fiscal Q2 2026.

Balance‑sheet and capital‑structure items in the filings support the earnings picture: reported cost of revenue and trailing twelve‑month free cash flow ( 5,949,000,000 ) and EBITDA ( 11,341,000,000 ) produce an enterprise value of 105,794,364,197 and a market capitalization of 105,407,364,197 in this dataset, giving P/FCF ≈ 18.09, EV/EBITDA ≈ 9.33 and P/E (ttm) ≈ 16.16. Cash and cash equivalents rose from 4,657,000,000 as of 2024-12-31 to 7,874,000,000 as of 2026-06-30, shares outstanding have trended down from 314,977,519 as of 2025-02-21 to 287,927,461 as of 2026-07-24, and long‑term debt was reported at 8,261,000,000 as of 2025-12-31. Market commentary included in the package emphasizes that the stock “trades richly” after roughly a 7x multi‑year share run, and the valuation model used a price of 366.09 per share as of 2026-09-02, implying a model‑implied perpetual FCF growth of 6.59% per year under the stated assumptions.

How this note was made

every stage ran before the note was written
Analystsread the evidence
Debatebull ⇄ bear ×2
Chairrules on every claim
Riskstress-tests the read
Sentimentweighs what survived
Editorwrites the note

Analyst desk

Mercer, Oakes, Nash, Ellis, Yates, Talbot and Archer. The desk: named AI agents, not people. Each reads one slice of the evidence and nothing else — no outside knowledge, no browsing — so every finding traces to a source you can open.

MercerAI fundamentals analyst
+2.0

Reads the XBRL figures companies file with the SEC — revenue, margins, income, debt and share count, quarter by quarter — and reports which way the trend is running.

Valero's diluted earnings per share moved from -1.90 for the fiscal Q1 2025 (2025-01-01 to 2025-03-31, 3mo) to 2.28 in fiscal Q2 2025 (2025-04-01 to 2025-06-30, 3mo), 3.53 in fiscal Q3 2025 (2025-07-01 to 2025-09-30, 3mo), 4.22 in fiscal Q1 2026 (2026-01-01 to 2026-03-31, 3mo) and 12.62 in fiscal Q2 2026 (2026-04-01 to 2026-06-30, 3mo).

XBRL companyfacts · 0001035002-25-000017

Quarterly net income rose from -595,000,000 in fiscal Q1 2025 (2025-01-01 to 2025-03-31, 3mo) to 714,000,000 in fiscal Q2 2025 (2025-04-01 to 2025-06-30, 3mo), 1,095,000,000 in fiscal Q3 2025 (2025-07-01 to 2025-09-30, 3mo), 1,263,000,000 in fiscal Q1 2026 (2026-01-01 to 2026-03-31, 3mo) and 3,720,000,000 in fiscal Q2 2026 (2026-04-01 to 2026-06-30, 3mo).

XBRL companyfacts · 0001035002-25-000017
OakesAI filings and risk analyst
+0.0

Reads the filings themselves, above all the year-over-year diff of Item 1A risk factors: which risks a company added, dropped or quietly reworded since its last annual report.

Nothing in this slice of the evidence rose to a claim — a quiet read, which itself is information.

Which filings the desk reads

The desk reads the annual 10-K in full — its risk factors, and how they changed since last year. Quarterly 10-Qs and event filings (8-Ks, insider Form 4s) are listed for context but not read line by line: the 10-K is where the material risk disclosures live. A brand-new company, or one we have only just begun tracking, may have no annual report on file yet — its risk analysis fills in once that lands.

NashAI market signals analyst
no data on file

Reads the signal panel above — momentum, volatility, drawdown, relative strength and beta — and ranks each against the whole research universe rather than judging it in isolation.

No computed signal history for this symbol yet — signals need roughly 70 trading days of price history.

EllisAI ownership and flow analyst
+0.0

Reads which funds hold the name and at what weight, plus insider Form 4 filings, to show the exposure you may already carry through index funds.

As of 2026-09-02T13:45:47.228469+00:00, VLO is a constituent of the ETF with symbol IVV at a weight of 0.12% of that fund.

ETF constituents · market data

The provided ownership evidence only shows a single ETF membership record (IVV) with a 0.12% weight as of the timestamp in the data; no other ETF holdings or changes are included in the evidence.

ETF constituents · market data
YatesAI news analyst
−1.0

Reads recent headlines that are genuinely about this company, ignoring rating chatter and market-wide stories. Findings argue in the debate but never move the sentiment score.

Headline coverage emphasizes that Valero 'trades richly' after a roughly 7x multi‑year share price run.

News · simplywall.st · 2026-09-03

The article states valuation checks — including a Discounted Cash Flow intrinsic value estimate and market multiples — point to the shares appearing overvalued.

News · simplywall.st · 2026-09-03
TalbotAI insider activity analyst
no data on file

Reads parsed Forms 3/4/5 — who bought or sold, at what size, and whether a 10b5-1 plan was involved. Flags clustered open-market officer buying; treats plan sales as routine and never counts a fund or 10%-holder as an officer.

No insider transactions on file in the trailing 180 days.

ArcherAI valuation analyst
+0.0

Reads the implied-expectations math built from the company's own filings (the growth rate today's price would justify, and the multiples beside it) and argues whether the market's bar looks high or low for this business. Never turns the math into a target.

The price used in this analysis was 366.09 per share as of 2026-09-02, and the model-implied free cash flow (FCF) growth rate that today's price would justify (under the stated discount and terminal assumptions) is 6.59% per year.

Valuation inputs · SEC XBRL + stored EOD close

Trailing twelve-month valuation multiples from the filings show P/FCF = 18.09, EV/EBITDA = 9.33, and P/E (ttm) = 16.16.

Valuation inputs · SEC XBRL + stored EOD close

Debate and risk review

A bull and a bear contest the claims and the chair rules on each; the risk review stress-tests what survived.

Debate1 round · 2 claims contested

A bull and a bear argue the analysts' claims across two rounds, then a chair rules on each one. Only what survives feeds the score — the argument is shown, not hidden, so you can judge the reasoning yourself.

The bull case

The set of filings shows a clear, multi-quarter improvement in core profitability metrics: EPS swung from negative to strongly positive and quarterly net income and operating income climbed sharply through Q2 2026. Cash balances increased and the company has reported meaningful share repurchases while shares outstanding have trended down, which together strengthen per-share cash generation. Valuation metrics (P/FCF ≈ 18, EV/EBITDA ≈ 9, implied perpetual FCF growth ~6.6%) are consistent with a mature, capital‑intensive company priced for steady cash flows rather than high growth, which aligns with the observed rising FCF and EBITDA levels in the filings. Against critique that the stock ‘‘trades richly’’ based on market multiples alone, the company‑level evidence of rising operating income, higher cash, and active buybacks materially support a favorable read on its recent financial progress.

The bear case

Chair's verdict, claim by claim

Headline coverage emphasizes that Valero 'trades richly' after a roughly 7x multi‑year share price run.The headline characterization that coverage emphasizes the stock 'trades richly' accurately reflects the stated article summary.upheld
The article states valuation checks — including a Discounted Cash Flow intrinsic value estimate and market multiples — point to the shares appearing overvalued.The claim that the article's valuation checks point to shares appearing overvalued is a correct summary of the reported coverage.upheld
As of 2026-09-02T13:45:47.228469+00:00, VLO is a constituent of the ETF with symbol IVV at a weight of 0.12% of that fund.ETF membership and weight (IVV at 0.12%) are factual data points captured at the given timestamp.upheld
Risk review

Fragility · computed, not argued

balanced0.47

17 surviving claims rest on 6 distinct sources; the heaviest analyst carries 47% of them, and 97% of what the desk raised survived the debate.

Evidence rests on a small set of official filings and a few secondary sources, which raises baseline reliability for reported historical accounting figures but limits breadth. Heavy dependence on one analyst and the fact that nearly all desk claims survived review mean the read is internally consistent but somewhat fragile to new or contradicting source material — give more weight to claims directly anchored in company filings and watch for the next SEC filing.

Disconfirming evidence · base rates · falsifiers

Context

Outside consensus, and where this name already sits in your own portfolio.

The street's viewAnalyst consensus · third-party · 2026-09-02
Buy Hold Sell Target

Third-party consensus shown for context. It never enters Moneyta sentiment — when the two diverge, the debate above is where the why lives.

What this was built from

Every figure on this page traces to one of these. The desk reads only what is listed here — no outside knowledge, no browsing — and each card shows who read it and what it contributed to the score.

15 filings· 1 cited

SEC XBRL filings

Quarterly figures as filed with the SEC, read straight from EDGAR's structured data — not retyped or estimated.

Read by Mercer+1.4 to the score

1 holdings record

Fund holdings

Which funds hold this name and at what weight, plus insider Form 4 filings.

Read by Ellis+0.0 to the score

1 headline

News coverage

Recent headlines about this company, rating chatter excluded and nothing published after the report date.

Read by Yatesnothing survived

1 computation

Valuation inputs

TTM cash-flow figures from the company's own XBRL filings, priced with the stored closing price. Implied growth and multiples only; no fair-value dollar figure reaches the desk, by design.

Read by Archercontext only

1 record· 0 cited

Company profile

Sector, industry and company details.

1 record· 0 cited

Analyst consensus

Third-party consensus, shown for context only — it never enters Moneyta sentiment.

Read means we pulled and handed it to an analyst; cited means a claim on this page points at it. Reading twelve quarters to state one trend is normal — the gap is shown rather than hidden.

Social sentiment

Crowd chatter as an evidence stream.

Coming soon

Aggregated tone from public social feeds will join the desk as its own evidence stream — read by its own analyst, contested in the same debate, and shown with the same sourcing as every other claim. Until it earns that bar, nothing renders here.

RPT-ed6f96f8evidence de6e14d4a1fdgenerated 9/3/2026, 4:42:31 AM · 84s13 model calls View trail

Written by AI, checked against sources

The analysts, the bull–bear debate and the editor's note are AI agents reading only the evidence listed on this page. They can misread a filing or a headline, which is why every claim cites a source you can open and check yourself. The sentiment score is arithmetic over the claims that survived the debate, not a language model's opinion.

Educational analysis of published data. Moneyta does not give investment advice or make recommendations. Past patterns do not indicate future results.

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Institutional holders

Net institutional flow, Q/Q

Largest holder position

Insider buys, 90 days

Clustered insider value

Street target range

The real figures are for members. Educational analysis, not advice.

Educational analysis of published data. Moneyta does not give investment advice or make recommendations.