NEW YORK, Feb 24, 2026, 14:38 ET — Regular session
- Exxon slipped roughly 1% in afternoon action, pulling back after Monday’s rise.
- Oil pulled back from almost seven-month peaks, with traders eyeing upcoming U.S.-Iran negotiations and new U.S. inventory numbers.
- A Wells Fargo analyst bumped up his price target on Exxon, while the sector’s legal risks stayed in the spotlight thanks to Supreme Court cases.
Exxon Mobil slipped 1.0% to $149.24 as of 2:17 p.m. EST Tuesday, paring gains from its previous rally.
Exxon’s shares still behave like a stand-in for crude. Oil price jolts—whether sparked by geopolitics or supply chatter—often send integrated majors’ stocks moving in a hurry, regardless of whether the companies themselves have said anything new.
Oil prices came off earlier peaks as traders digested remarks from Iran ahead of nuclear negotiations scheduled for later this week. Brent lost 0.7%, settling at $70.95 a barrel, while U.S. WTI futures dropped the same percentage to $65.82, according to Reuters. The report noted that tensions between the U.S. and Iran have tacked on a $3 to $4 per barrel “risk premium” due to fears of possible supply interruptions. Traders are also awaiting U.S. crude stockpile data, with the American Petroleum Institute set to report late Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration following up Wednesday. Reuters
Exxon finished Monday up 2.36% at $150.76, MarketWatch data showed, bucking the downtrend that saw the S&P 500 shed 1.04%. Chevron managed a 0.53% gain, while ConocoPhillips lost 0.59%, according to the same report.
Wells Fargo’s Sam Margolin bumped his price target on Exxon up to $183 from $156, sticking with an overweight call. Margolin, in a note cited by TheFly, pointed out that Exxon shares “have led the index higher and are re-rating.” TipRanks
Legal developments grabbed attention after the U.S. Supreme Court decided it would take up Exxon and Suncor’s push to block Boulder, Colorado’s climate lawsuit. The case carries potential consequences for other climate-related suits nationwide. “Climate policy shouldn’t be set through fragmented state-court actions,” an Exxon spokesperson said. Reuters
Exxon pushed ahead with its pursuit of over $1 billion in compensation for oil and gas assets seized by Cuba back in 1960, invoking the Helms‑Burton Act—a U.S. law permitting some lawsuits over confiscated property—in a separate case before the Supreme Court. According to Reuters, a Justice Department lawyer supporting Exxon argued to the justices, “The decision below would effectively negate suits that Congress authorized.” A decision from the court is expected by the end of June. Reuters
Oil price projections have moved too. Goldman Sachs bumped up its Q4 2026 forecast by $6, yet the firm is still betting on no supply hit from Iran and maintains that 2026 will see a surplus, according to Reuters. Goldman’s note pegged its outlook to the idea that any geopolitical risk premium would gradually shrink if tensions cool.
Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub didn’t mince words: crude prices have to hit roughly $70 a barrel for the sector to expand, she said, according to Reuters. The industry can hold steady with output at $60 to $65, but growth won’t materialize below that threshold.
Still, those drivers can just as easily turn against the sector. Signs of genuine headway in the Geneva talks might pull the risk premium out of crude, putting pressure on energy stocks. On the flip side, a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. inventories or renewed Middle East tensions could send prices climbing and shift sentiment in a hurry.
Traders are set to watch Tuesday’s API inventory release, followed by the EIA numbers on Wednesday. Then attention shifts to Thursday, when U.S.-Iran talks kick off in Geneva. Exxon and the rest of the oil majors are expected to stay tuned for moves in crude prices.
