Oct 29, 2026 earnings call — Balance sheet strength and refining operations
Reported adjusted net income of $12.78/share and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $2.3 billion.
Revenue $12.1B (est $10.6B) · EPS $12.78 (est $11.12)
Key quotes
"The company reduced net debt by more than $1.2 billion during the quarter, and by more than $2 billion this year."
"With global inventories roughly 500 million barrels below prewar levels, there is essentially zero cushion in the system."
Analyst Q&A 6
Why heavy crude is discounted and benefit
Q (Manav Gupta · UBS): Analyst asked what is driving wider quality discounts and how PBF benefits. He also asked how PBF manages West Coast crude purchases given local price differences.
A: Management said wider crude differentials are tailwinds for PBF and the company benefits from its complex refineries. They are maximizing California crude runs and have pipeline space to take more, and Latin American heavy crude and freight are driving discounts that PBF takes advantage of.
"The, you know, the Latin American heavies are really driving the discounts that everybody is seeing and talking about." — Thomas D. O'Malley
Why keep debt and capital cost details
Q (Doug Leggate · Wolfe): Analyst asked why PBF keeps any permanent financing now that net debt is near zero. He also asked for a refresh on sustaining capital and operating cost base after Martinez.
A: They said keeping access to capital markets is prudent and they now carry two bonds. Interest expense on those is under $40 million/year versus roughly $175 million/year historically; Martinez turnaround is complete; RBI savings split between capital and OpEx and sustaining capital baseline was about $230 million with $25 million-$30 million saved.
"The interest expense on those 2 pieces of paper is less than $40 million or $37.5 million/year." — Matthew C. Lucey (CEO)
West Coast asset performance and Q4 outlook
Q (Joseph Laetsch · Morgan Stanley): Analyst asked how West Coast assets are running after turnarounds and what demand looks like. He also asked for color on fourth-quarter drivers versus third quarter, including crude differentials and prompt cracks.
A: They said West Coast demand has been resilient and wholesale volumes are up. Assets are fully up and running, PBF can access California grades via the M70 pipeline, and they expect widening crude differentials in Q4 though product cracks remain volatile.
"I think my expectation for the fourth quarter is to have widening crude diffs, which obviously are quite impactful to our business." — Matthew C. Lucey (CEO)
Throughput confidence and California crude access
Q (Phillip Jungwirth · BMO): Analyst asked why PBF is guiding strong fourth-quarter throughput and how confident they are to run at a higher rate. He also asked whether they can run heavier crude into Q4 and raise distillate yield.
A: Management said the market is dictating higher runs and they will run the most economic crude grades available. On California supply, M70 has space and San Pablo Bay pipeline ownership changed, but production — not egress — is the current constraint; regulatory change is not expected to materially shift soon.
"I promise you, we will run the most economic grades that we can get our hand on and push our system in that regard." — Matthew C. Lucey (CEO)
Exposure to freight rates and turnarounds
Q (Goldman Sachs): Analyst asked how exposed PBF is to elevated freight rates and what mitigations they use. He also asked about decision-making on delayed turnarounds and impacts to 2027 throughput and CapEx.
A: They said about half the fleet is on time charter, which shields PBF from large freight swings, and PBF benefits from shorter Atlantic transit times versus Asia. For turnarounds, they analyze unit condition daily, took advantage of unplanned downtime to defer work (e.g., Toledo), and apply rigor to optimize timing; they will provide CapEx guidance at their normal time.
"We have about half of our fleet on time charter, which has obviously insulated us from, you know, the massive gyrations that are occurring." — Matthew C. Lucey (CEO)
SBR JV results and hydrogen plant buybacks
Q (Piper Sandler): Analyst asked how SBR is running, what feedstocks look like, and whether PBF is taking dividends from the JV. He also asked about bringing hydrogen plants back in house and how to model that transaction.
A: They said SBR ran well near the top end of guidance and Q3 feedstock was lower CI which helped margins; PBF received about $20 million dividend from SBR in the quarter. On hydrogen plants, Torrance was unique due to tight integration with the refinery, the acquisition was to increase utilization, cash flows remain the same though classification changed to a promissory note.
"We did receive our first dividend distribution from SBR during the quarter of about $20 million." — Joseph Marino (CFO)