Valero Energy Stock Climbs 12% On An 8-Day Winning Streak
Valero Energy (VLO) stock has now moved higher for 8 consecutive trading days, delivering a cumulative gain of 12%. That run has added about $12 billion to the company’s market value, which now stands at about $114 billion. For anyone holding the stock, this represents a significant recent return.
VLO versus the S&P 500, streak and beyond
Here is how VLO stock stacks up against the S&P 500 over the streak and the periods around it:
| Return Period | VLO | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1.6% | -0.5% |
| 8D (Current Streak) | 12.2% | -1.2% |
| 1M (21D) | 23.5% | -1.5% |
| 3M (63D) | 53.9% | 3.4% |
| YTD 2026 | 142.5% | 11.6% |
| 2025 | 37.0% | 16.4% |
| 2024 | -3.0% | 23.3% |
| 2023 | 5.9% | 24.2% |
Is the business keeping pace with the stock?
The evidence is mixed. The rally has been the stock’s own, as the S&P 500 returned -1.2% over the same 8 trading days. On fundamentals, Valero’s revenue over the last twelve months grew 12.6%, ahead of the S&P 500 median of 8.3%. The stock also trades at a price-to-earnings multiple of 15.9, below the Energy sector median of 17.9 and the S&P 500 median of 22.9.
However, its operating margin of 7.2% is substantially below the S&P 500 median of 18.7%, and its 3-year average revenue growth is negative, though its free cash flow yield of 8.8% is well above the market. As for the streak itself, it is uncommon: just 1 other S&P 500 stock is currently on a winning streak of 8 days or more.
A streak is information, not an instruction.
A long streak signals that a stock has momentum and the market’s attention. It is not, by itself, a reason to buy or sell. The disciplined response is to use this new information as a prompt to check the business fundamentals against the stock’s new price. The recent run has pushed the stock to a new 52-week high of $388.95.
A run like this is worth respecting, and worth testing: the momentum that lasts is usually the kind management itself is underwriting. Our Guidance Momentum screen tracks the stocks whose companies just raised their own forward numbers.
And for anyone who would rather back the theme than one company’s story, an energy ETF like XLE holds the sector rather than this one name. It is still a concentrated bet on that one theme, though, which is exactly the gap the portfolio below closes.
Momentum is a tailwind, not a plan
Riding a stock that rises every day feels effortless, and that is precisely the danger: the same momentum that built this run can reverse without notice, and one name’s reversal should never be able to reset your whole year.
That is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio is for: about 30 quality businesses screened for the fundamentals that survive momentum’s mood swings, held with rules. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. Watch the runs; own the resilience.