Valero Energy (VLO) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved record personnel and process safety, strong environmental performance, and record heavy sour crude and ethanol production in 2024.

• DGD Sustainable Aviation Fuel Project started up and is fully operational, enabling up to 50% of renewable diesel capacity to be blended to SAF.

• Board approved a 6% increase in quarterly cash dividend to $1.13/share effective January 2025, reflecting financial strength.

• Net income attributable to stockholders was $281M ($0.88/share) for Q4 2024 and $2.8B ($8.58/share) for the year, both down sharply year-over-year.

• Returned $601M to stockholders in Q4 and $4.3B for the year via dividends and buybacks.

Financial highlights

• Q4 2024 net income was $281M ($0.88/share), down from $1.2B ($3.55/share) in Q4 2023; full-year net income was $2.8B ($8.58/share), compared to $8.8B ($24.92/share) in 2023.

• Adjusted Q4 2024 net income was $207M ($0.64/share), down from $1.2B ($3.57/share) in Q4 2023; full-year adjusted net income was $2.7B ($8.48/share).

• Q4 2024 revenues were $30.8B, down from $35.4B in Q4 2023; full-year revenues were $129.9B, down from $144.8B in 2023.

• Net cash from operating activities was $1.1B in Q4 2024 and $6.7B for 2024; adjusted net cash from operations was $951M in Q4 and $5.5B for 2024.

• Returned $4.3B to stockholders in 2024 via $2.9B in buybacks and $1.4B in dividends.

Outlook and guidance

• Expect refining margins to be supported by low product inventories ahead of driving season.

• Long-term product demand expected to exceed supply due to refinery shutdowns and limited new capacity.

• 2025 capital investments projected at $2B, with $1.6B for sustaining business; $1.95B attributable to Valero.

• Q1 2025 refining throughput guidance: Gulf Coast 1.72–1.77M bpd, Midcontinent 415–435K bpd, West Coast 190–210K bpd, North Atlantic 455–475K bpd.

• Renewable diesel sales volumes expected at $1.2B in 2025; ethanol production at 4.6M gallons/day in Q1.