On July 29, Valero rose 3.01% in pre-market trading, trading at approximately $308.0/share, with turnover of $1.8467 million. The refining sector rallied broadly, with Marathon Petroleum up 3.22%, PBF Energy up 3.07%, and HF Sinclair up 2.44%.

On the news front, oil transit volumes through the Strait of Hormuz remain well below normal levels, constraining global refinery throughput by approximately 10% year-over-year. As a result, diesel crack spreads across the US Gulf Coast, Northwest Europe, and Singapore have surged past $50 per barrel, setting a new all-time high. This environment directly benefits operators of complex refineries such as Valero, which are positioned to capture elevated margins on processed product output.

The move also comes one day ahead of Valero's Q2 earnings release scheduled for July 30 pre-market. Consensus estimates project adjusted EPS of approximately $9.87-$10.18, representing a year-over-year increase of over 480%. Goldman Sachs recently raised its price target to $357 while maintaining a Buy rating, and the company authorized an additional $5 billion share buyback program in mid-July, reinforcing bullish sentiment heading into the report.

(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)