XOM vs COP — which stock performed better?

Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) versus ConocoPhillips (COP), Energy, on 2026-08-12.

Result

ConocoPhillips (COP) performed better on 2026-08-12. XOM moved 0.090%, COP moved 2.240%.

Why these two companies

Middle East supply fears sent oil sharply higher on Monday, August 10, 2026, after a Houthi strike on a Saudi refinery and stalled Strait of Hormuz diplomacy, and energy stocks were the best-performing sector of the session. ExxonMobil rose about 3.16% and ConocoPhillips jumped 4.6%, making the integrated supermajor versus the pure-play shale producer a timely test of which business model captures more upside when crude spikes. Both names also just posted strong Q2 2026 earnings beats on higher realized prices, adding a fundamental tailwind to the geopolitical story.

The research

ExxonMobil is one of the world's biggest oil companies, drilling for oil and gas and also running refineries and chemical plants that turn crude into fuel and other products. ConocoPhillips focuses purely on finding and pumping oil and gas out of the ground, without owning refineries, which means its business is more directly tied to the price of crude oil itself.

One reason to like ExxonMobil is that its refining and chemicals business can act like a cushion when oil prices swing around, and the company just reported its highest oil and gas production in more than twenty years. One reason to like ConocoPhillips is that because it doesn't have that refining cushion, its profits and stock price tend to move more sharply, in either direction, when oil prices jump, which can mean bigger gains when oil is rising like it was this past Monday.

Both companies just reported very strong quarterly profits, helped by higher oil and gas prices, and both stocks jumped over the past week as tensions in the Middle East raised worries about oil supply disruptions and pushed crude prices higher. Something to keep in mind for both companies is that if the geopolitical tensions ease and oil prices come back down, both stocks could give back some of their recent gains, with ConocoPhillips likely to feel that swing more than ExxonMobil.