Marathon Petroleum Tops Estimates Despite Earnings Slump

Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE: MPC) beat the analyst consensus for its third-quarter earnings by a mile, despite the expected slump in profits due to plunging refining margins. All U.S. refiners were expected to report much lower profits for the third quarter compared to a year earlier, as refining margins slumped to multi-year lows amid tepid fuel demand and increased global fuel supply. On Tuesday, Marathon Petroleum joined the other major U.S. refiners, Valero Energy and Phillips 66, in reporting better-than-expected Q3 earnings even...