Is Occidental Petroleum Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), headquartered in Houston, Texas, acquires, explores, and develops oil and gas properties. Valued at $58.8 billion by market cap, the company also manufactures and markets a variety of basic chemicals, vinyls and performance chemicals.

Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and OXY perfectly fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the oil & gas E&P industry. OXY’s competitive strengths lie in its low-cost Permian resource base, integrated upstream-midstream-chemicals operations, and leadership in carbon capture and direct air capture through Oxy Low Carbon Ventures. Paired with deep enhanced oil recovery expertise, disciplined capital allocation post-Anadarko, and earnings stability from OxyChem, these advantages drive strong cash flow and position OXY uniquely among peers.

Despite its notable strength, OXY slipped 11.6% from its 52-week high of $67.45, achieved on Mar. 31. Over the past three months, OXY stock gained 11.1%, outperforming the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 10.8% gains during the same time frame.

Shares of OXY rose 45% on a YTD basis and climbed 39.7% over the past 52 weeks, outperforming SPX’s 10.4% gains on a YTD basis and 26.5% returns over the last year.

To confirm the bullish trend, OXY has been trading above its 50-day moving average since late December, 2025, with slight fluctuations. The stock is trading above its 200-day moving average since early January, with minor fluctuations.

On May 5, OXY reported its Q1 results, and its shares closed down more than 7% in the following trading session. Its adjusted EPS of $1.06 surpassed Wall Street expectations of $0.65. The company’s revenue was $5.1 billion, falling short of Wall Street forecasts of $5.5 billion.

In the competitive arena of oil & gas E&P, Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG) has taken the lead over OXY, showing resilience with 48% gains over the past 52 weeks, but lagged behind the stock with a 40.1% uptick on a YTD basis.

Wall Street analysts are reasonably bullish on OXY’s prospects. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from the 26 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $64.80 suggests a potential upside of 8.7% from current price levels.