COP vs XOM: How ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of July 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. COP and XOM share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined COP and XOM exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is an exploration and production (E&P) company focused exclusively on the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry. It finds, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from a globally diversified asset base that includes U.S. Lower 48 shale plays (Permian, Eagle Ford, Bakken), Alaska (including the Willow development project), Canadian oil sands at Surmont, operations in Norway and Qatar, and equity stakes in LNG projects including Australia Pacific LNG and the Port Arthur LNG facility on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The company makes money by selling the hydrocarbons it produces at prevailing market prices, with profitability driven primarily by realized commodity prices, production volumes, and its cost-of-supply discipline. It does not operate refineries or fuel retail networks, giving it a focused capital structure but also direct exposure to commodity price swings.

Full COP guide

Exxon Mobil is one of the world's largest publicly traded integrated oil and gas companies. It makes money across three main segments: Upstream, which finds and produces crude oil and natural gas; Product Solutions, which refines crude into fuels and manufactures petrochemicals and specialty products; and the newer Low Carbon Solutions unit, which is building carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and lithium businesses. Being integrated means Exxon captures value along the full chain, from the wellhead to the gas pump and the chemical plant, which can smooth results when one part of the business is weak.

Full XOM guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• COP drivers: Marathon Oil Integration and Scale; Willow Project and Long-Cycle Growth.
• XOM drivers: Record low-cost production growth; Pioneer integration and cost savings.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: COP's revenues and free cash flow are highly sensitive to crude oil and natural gas prices, and any sustained commodity price decline would directly erode earnings and the company's ability to fund its capital-return targets. For XOM, exxon's earnings are highly cyclical because they swing with oil and natural gas prices, which the company does not control and which depend on global supply, demand, and OPEC decisions.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick COP if you believe its drivers more; XOM if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the COP and XOM guides.

COP. COP's trailing P/E of roughly 19x sits approximately 59 percent above its own 10-year median of around 12x and modestly above the oil and gas industry average of roughly 16x, suggesting the market is pricing in meaningful growth from Willow, LNG, and post-Marathon synergies. Free cash flow of roughly $5.85 billion TTM reflects elevated capital expenditures during the current heavy-investment cycle, and management projects a material step-up in free cash flow as long-cycle projects come online toward 2029. The dividend yield near 3.1 percent, combined with active buybacks, provides a tangible total-return component that partially compensates holders during periods of softer commodity prices.

XOM. An integrated oil major like Exxon is best read through the commodity cycle rather than a single quarter. Earnings swing with oil and gas prices, so a high-price year can produce far more profit than a low-price year even with similar production. The key is whether free cash flow comfortably funds the dividend and buybacks across the cycle; Exxon's low-cost Permian and Guyana barrels are meant to do exactly that. These stocks typically trade at low-to-moderate P/E multiples because the market discounts the cyclicality and long-term energy-transition uncertainty.

Headline figures (approximate, June 27, 2026): COP shows revenue (ttm, ~march 2026) ~$60.5 billion, net income (ttm) ~$7.3 billion, eps (ttm, dec 2025) ~$6.34, p/e ratio (ttm) ~19x; XOM shows revenue (fy2025) ~$335 billion, net income (fy2025) ~$28.8 billion, eps (fy2025, approx) ~$6.70, production ~4.7 million boe/d (record).

COP and XOM are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined COP and XOM exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.