New York, March 2, 2026, 17:43 ET — Trading after the bell.
- Exxon shares climbed roughly 1.1% in after-hours trading, following a late surge in crude prices.
- Bank of America bumped its Exxon target price up to $151, pointing to risk in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Middle East supply and shipping headlines are drawing trader attention, with Exxon’s dividend payout set for March 10.
Exxon Mobil picked up roughly 1.1% to $154.22 after hours on Monday. Late in the session, a jump in oil prices pulled buyers back into energy stocks.
Stocks found some footing as U.S. equities bounced back from a choppy session following U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran over the weekend. U.S. crude finished 6% higher at $71.23 per barrel, though earlier gains were nearly double that before easing back. Traders tracked fuel prices and waited for fresh headlines.
Why it matters now: Traders are scrambling to adjust for supply risks, zeroing in on shipping snarls at the Strait of Hormuz—the chokepoint that moves roughly 20% of the world’s oil. Piper Sandler analysts say, “We expect potential duration and physical volume impact … will keep upward pressure on both commodity price and energy equities.” Natural gas prices jumped too, after Qatar stopped liquefied natural gas production. Reuters
Bank of America’s Jean Ann Salisbury bumped up her Exxon target to $151 from $135, sticking with a Neutral rating. Salisbury pointed to projections that a disruption in the Hormuz Strait could tack on $10 to $20 per barrel, describing that increase as “warranted going forward.” TipRanks
Other names moved higher too. Chevron picked up roughly 1.5%, while ConocoPhillips tacked on around 4.2% after hours.
Exxon’s talking up its capital return strategy to investors, counting on buybacks and dividends to do the heavy lifting. They’ve outlined a $20 billion share repurchase program running through 2026, trimming the outstanding share count along the way. First-quarter dividend: $1.03 a share, with checks going out March 10.
Higher crude prices tend to boost upstream earnings for integrated oil majors such as Exxon — that’s the production side of the business. Downstream units, though, can get squeezed by pricier feedstock if product prices don’t keep pace.
Even so, energy’s rally can reverse in a heartbeat. Should tensions ease quickly or officials move to tamp down gas prices, crude’s risk premium could vanish—and stocks could deflate just as fast.
The longer the conflict drags on, the trickier the trade gets. Supply disruptions might boost cash flow, yet if fuel prices stay high for too long, that starts to hit demand—particularly in parts of the economy where travel is big business.
Traders eye fresh signals of production hiccups and keep tabs on whether tanker movement through Hormuz remains consistent. For equities, focus shifts to XOM—will it hang onto its gains once headlines die down?
Next up for Exxon: a dividend payment scheduled for March 10. But the real variable here is crude. How oil trades overnight could steer the mood heading into Tuesday.
