Start here if you're new
what it is
Sunoco moves motor fuel, stores it, and sells it across more than 40 states.
how it gets paid
Last year Sunoco Lp made $25.2B in revenue. Fuel Distribution was the main engine at $22.8B, or 90% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 11.1% last year. Revenue hit $16.6B, up 175% vs. prior year, as the acquisition math started to show up.
what just happened
Sunoco missed estimates with $0.13 EPS versus $1.67 expected.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
30/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
13.9x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
7.1% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
11.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 56/100 — below average
What they do
Sunoco moves motor fuel, stores it, and sells it across more than 40 states.
You are not betting on a cute brand. You are betting on 14,000 miles of pipeline and 100+ terminals. Fuel Distribution was more than 90% of 2024 revenue, so one giant cash engine does most of the work.
How they make money
$25.2B
annual revenue · their business grew +11.1% last year
Fuel Distribution
$22.8B
+11.1%
Pipeline Systems
$1.1B
+8.0%
Terminals
$0.8B
+5.0%
Other / eliminations
$0.5B
0.0%
The products that matter
distributes gasoline and diesel
Wholesale Motor Fuel
$25.2B revenue · +11.1%
this is still the center of gravity. the core operation produced $25.2B of revenue last year, but the whole company kept only a 3.1% net margin. scale matters here because there is not much cushion per gallon.
core engine
retail and convenience footprint
Parkland assets
3,600+ locations added
the $9.1B Parkland deal added more than 3,600 retail and convenience locations. that's why the street now models $44B of revenue for fy2026. in human-speak: the company got a lot bigger all at once.
step-change
canadian refining asset
Burnaby refinery
55,000 barrels per day
the Parkland transaction also brought a 55,000-barrel-per-day refinery that supplies roughly one-quarter of british columbia's transportation fuel needs. material asset. also a fresh execution burden.
integration watch
Key numbers
$63
target price
That sits $9.56 above $53.44, so you get 7.1% income and room for price gain.
7.1%
dividend yield
This is the yearly payout rate. You are paid while you wait.
$9.5B
debt
That debt stack is the main thing that can crowd out bigger payouts or buybacks.
8.0%
operating margin
For every $100 of sales, Sunoco keeps about $8 before interest and taxes.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 85 / 100
- long-term debt $9.5B (48% of capital)
- net profit margin 3.8% — keeps 4 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 22% — $0.22 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — return on equity looks solid but long-term debt needs watching.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in SUN 3 years ago → it's now worth $15,050.
The index would have given you $14,770.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
Sunoco missed estimates with $0.13 EPS versus $1.67 expected.
Revenue hit $16.6B, up 175% vs. prior year, as the acquisition math started to show up. The miss was in profit, not sales.
$16.6B
revenue
$0.13
eps
8.0%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The $0.13 print was the tell. Revenue surged, but profit missed the $1.67 bar by 92%.
-
suncoco lp entered 2026 with a new look.the company closed its $9.1 billion acquisition of parkland corporation on october 31st, making it the largest independent fuel distributor in the americas. the cash-and-stock deal expanded sunoco’s network by over 3,600 retail and convenience locations, securing a major foothold in the western canadian energy market. the transaction also included a 55,000-barrel-per-day refinery in burnaby, british columbia, a key asset that currently accounts for roughly a quarter of the province’s transportation fuel needs.
-
we have adjusted our estimates to reflect the deal’s completion.
-
the parkland transaction is expected to be immediately accretive, providing a 10%+ increase to distributable cash flow per common unit.leadership also anticipates $250 million in annual run-rate by year three and to return to its 4x long-term leverage target within 12-18 months postclose. parkland was the largest acquisition in sunoco’s history, and its second blockbuster deal in as many years.
-
the company shelled out about $7.3 billion for nustar energy in 2024.
-
income-oriented investors might want to consider a position here.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the risk is not that people stop buying fuel tomorrow. the risk is that Sunoco gets bigger faster than it gets cleaner.
high
Parkland integration
Sunoco added 3,600+ retail and convenience locations plus the Burnaby refinery in one move. if integration slips, the promised scale benefits show up later than the stock and payout case need them to.
the deal is supposed to add 10%+ to distributable cash flow per common unit and $250M of annual run-rate benefits by year three. if that math slips, investor patience will too.
high
debt reduction misses the schedule
long-term debt is already $9.5B, or 48% of capital. management says the business gets back to its 4x long-term debt target within 12–18 months. until then, balance-sheet discipline is not background detail. it is the test.
if that timeline drifts, the 7.1% yield starts looking less like income and more like compensation for extra balance-sheet risk.
med
thin margins stay thin
a 3.1% net margin on $25.2B of revenue gives you scale, not much cushion. the latest quarter ran at 2.1% margin while full-year EPS fell from $6.00 to $3.85.
when margins live this close to the floor, small operating misses can hit earnings much harder than revenue would suggest.
med
back-to-back deals hide the core trend
Sunoco spent about $7.3B on NuStar in 2024, then closed Parkland in 2025. serial dealmaking can work. it can also make it harder for you to tell whether the legacy business is improving or just getting buried under transaction noise.
if investors stop trusting the underlying earnings picture, the multiple stays low even if revenue gets bigger.
with $9.5B of long-term debt and only a 3.1% net margin on $25.2B of revenue, Sunoco does not have much room for a messy integration.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
timeline
4x long-term debt target in 12–18 months
management gave you a clock. if Sunoco is still talking about this well after that window, the market will hear delay before it hears discipline.
metric
eps rebound from $3.85 to $7.35
that is what the street is asking you to believe for fy2026. big expectation jumps need clean integration and better margins, not just a bigger revenue base.
risk
whether the promised $250M in run-rate benefits show up
cost-savings promises are common. collecting them by year three is what separates a good acquisition from an expensive one.
trend
margin recovery above the recent 2.1% quarter
Sunoco's full-year net margin was 3.1%. if quarterly profitability keeps running well below that, the earnings rebound case weakens fast.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3. in human-speak, analysts do not see a strong short-term signal either way.
risk profile
average
stability score 3. this is neither a bunker stock nor a chaos stock.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3. the chart is not screaming anything dramatic right now.
earnings predictability
30 / 100
earnings predictability is weak. translation: expect bumps, especially while two large acquisitions are being absorbed.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 107 buyers vs. 100 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 64.3M shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$45
$80
$53
current price
$63
target midpoint · +18% from current · 3-5yr high: $90 (+70% · 19% ann'l return)
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