New York, Feb 23, 2026, 13:50 EST — Regular session
Exxon Mobil Corp climbed 2.2% to $150.47 on Monday afternoon, outperforming much of the U.S. market as energy names got some traction. Shares ranged from $146.56 to $151.24. The S&P 500 ETF slipped around 0.8%, while a broad energy ETF managed a small gain.
Energy remains a rare spot where investors keep finding steady cash flow, dodging the noisy tariff and growth stories playing out in other sectors. For Exxon, with its reach across crude production, refining, and chemicals, oil’s daily price swings keep driving the mood.
Oil slipped, holding close to six-month highs. Brent crude shed 0.52% to trade at $71.39 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) edged 0.41% lower to $66.21 as of 12:44 p.m. ET. Traders tracked heightened U.S.-Iran friction and renewed trade-policy jitters. “That seemed to suggest that they are more open to talking about their nuclear program,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group. (Reuters)
Exxon found itself in the Washington spotlight for legal reasons. The U.S. Supreme Court said it would take up a request from Exxon and Suncor Energy to dismiss Boulder, Colorado’s climate case—a lawsuit that could set the tone for many others brought by states and cities. (Reuters)
The court will also take up Exxon’s Helms-Burton suit, where the company is pursuing upwards of $1 billion from Cuban state-owned firms over property seized back in 1960. At the core: whether U.S. courts have the reach in expropriation battles like this, and how “foreign sovereign immunity”—the legal doctrine shielding foreign governments from lawsuits—should apply here. The case hinges on whether any exception to that immunity kicks in. (Reuters)
Chevron ticked up roughly 0.5%, with BP ahead by around 0.4%. U.S.-listed Shell added about 0.3% as oil majors moved higher.
Goldman Sachs bumped up its Q4 2026 oil price outlook, but left its estimate for a 2.3 million barrels per day surplus in 2026 unchanged. The bank also said it sees OPEC+ beginning to lift production slowly in the second quarter. (Reuters)
Crude’s bounce is worming its way back into inflation calculations. Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, puts it this way: a $10 bump in oil, if it sticks, could nudge U.S. annual inflation higher by as much as 0.2 percentage point. That’s with “base effects” losing their grip—those easy year-on-year comparisons are fading, and energy’s drag on inflation is slipping out of the picture. (Reuters)
Still, energy stocks aren’t insulated. If the geopolitical premium fades quickly—or worries over growth suddenly hit fuel demand forecasts—crude could tumble, taking the sector down with it.
The next potential mover for traders lands Thursday, Feb. 26, with Oman confirming that U.S.-Iran talks are scheduled in Geneva. Anything that nudges the outlook on sanctions or supply risk could quickly sway oil prices—and XOM—through week’s end. (Reuters)
