British Petroleum’s (BP) stock is down 5% after the oil major announced that it is suspending its share buyback program as it tries to strengthen its balance sheet.
Management said that the stock buybacks were being paused due to lower crude oil prices, which are hurting the company’s profits.
The energy giant’s previous stock buyback totaled $750 million U.S. and was announced last November.
BP, as the company is commonly known, said its board of directors decided to suspend the share buybacks and use the excess cash to strengthen its balance sheet moving forward.
BP announced the stock buyback suspensions along with its latest financial results. The company reported a fourth-quarter 2025 profit of $1.54 billion U.S., matching expectations.
However, BP’s full-year 2025 net profit came in at $7.49 billion U.S., which was short of the $7.58 billion U.S. forecast on Wall Street, and down from $9 billion U.S. in 2024.
Management blamed the disappointing full-year results on oil prices, which recorded their biggest annual declined since the Covid-19 pandemic last year due to global oversupply.
Meg O’Neill is scheduled to take over as BP’s new chief executive officer (CEO) on April 1 of this year following current CEO Murray Auchincloss’ decision to step down.
Prior to today (Feb. 10), BP stock had risen 14% over the past 12 months to trade at $39.22 U.S. per share.
