By George Glover

Shell stock was sliding Thursday after the oil major reported a drop in profit, but announced another share buyback plan.

The energy giant's American depositary receipts edged 0.5% higher to $72.09 on Thursday morning. ADRs for rival BP slid 0.7%. The S&P 500 was up 0.8%, boosted by strong Big Tech results.

Shell's adjusted earnings fell to $4.3 billion -- a drop of nearly 25% from the first quarter -- which it said reflected "lower trading contribution in a weaker margin environment." Benchmark oil prices have remained soft this year, weighed down by worries about weak demand from China and a glut in supply.

The company also said it would buy back $3.5 billion of shares, in line with the program it launched in May, which probably helped investors to look past the fall in earnings.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 31, 2025 10:40 ET (14:40 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.