When fuel and energy costs jump, a company can raise prices, cut costs, or lean on its balance sheet. The Q3 2026 earnings calls from Dow and Union Pacific show two finance chiefs choosing different mixes of the three. Dow's story is cost-cutting plus a long runway before any debt comes due. Union Pacific's is spending more now to position for a merger. Everything below about the calls is what management said, and we flag where a source's track record is mixed.
Dow: the cuts are real, and so is the need for them
On the October 22, 2026 call, Dow's Jeffrey Tate said the company remains focused on its commitment: "we remain focused on our commitment to implement approximately $1.3 billion in net benefits this year as well as $1.3 billion in 2027."1 Tate also said sequential self-help improvement in Q3 exceeded $150 million, and that selling, administrative and related costs were down $130 million from the prior quarter: "our SARD was actually down $130 million."1 The call summary also quotes the CEO on roughly 4,500 role reductions, about 70% of which have been implemented so far.1
Why the urgency? Dow's SEC filings show a company whose cash generation has weakened sharply. Revenue fell from $44.6 billion in fiscal 2023 to $43.0 billion in 2024 and $40.0 billion in 2025.2 Cash from operations fell from $5.2 billion to $2.9 billion to $1.0 billion over the same three years.2 Earnings per share went from $0.82 in 2023 to $1.57 in 2024 and then to a loss of $3.70 per share in 2025.2 Cost of revenue did fall, from $39.7 billion in 2023 to $37.4 billion in 2025, but it fell less than the money coming in.2 Self-help programs matter most in exactly this position.
Tate described the outside pressure plainly: "Persistently high energy costs continue to challenge industry economics."1 The dossier ties that comment to European economics and to record-low Rhine water that disrupted logistics.1
The cash cushion
Tate's balance-sheet message was the most reassuring part of the call: "We have approximately $14 billion of liquidity and no substantive debt maturities until 2029."1 He also cited "third quarter free cash flow performance, $1.1 billion," with working capital improving about $1.3 billion from the prior quarter, and a 2027 cash conversion target of 70% to 80%.1
For perspective, Dow's reported cash was $3.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2025 and $4.1 billion in Q1 2026.2 Liquidity is a broader measure than cash, so the two are not directly comparable. Still, $14 billion is more than three times the cash on the balance sheet, which is why a company with a loss year behind it can say it faces no debt wall for roughly three years. One cautionary note from the filings: shares outstanding rose from 702 million in fiscal 2023 to 718 million in fiscal 2025 and 721 million in Q1 2026, so each dollar of earnings is being shared among more shares.2
Near-term guidance is modest rather than heroic. Tate expects the usual fourth-quarter seasonal slowdown to be "largely offset by more than $100 million of lower sequential turnaround spending," and says global polyethylene margins should improve about $0.02 per pound from Q3.1 The call summary headline puts Q4 EBITDA at about $1.5 billion.1
Union Pacific: paying more, spending more
Union Pacific's call shows the other side of an energy shock. CFO Jennifer Hamann said: "Fuel expense grew 69% on a 64% increase in average fuel price," which took the average price from $2.56 to $4.21 per gallon.3 The CEO described a record quarter, with net income of $2.1 billion, adjusted earnings per share up 15% to $3.53 and 6% volume growth, while acknowledging that "Higher fuel prices were a big cost driver."3 The company affirmed 2026 reported EPS growth in the high single digits and lifted 2026 capital spending to $3.5 billion.3 Note that the 15% figure is adjusted quarterly EPS and the high single-digit guide is full-year reported EPS. They measure different things and should not be compared.
The balance-sheet piece is the merger. Hamann said: "We will continue growing our cash reserves in anticipation of closing the Norfolk Southern merger in the second half of 2027."3 In other words, Union Pacific is stockpiling cash and raising investment while absorbing a fuel bill that rose 69%. It can do so because volume is growing and operating execution is improving, according to the call summary.3
Is this a pattern?
Rio Tinto's half-year call is a useful comparison, though outside the energy theme. The company said it had banked $870 million of productivity benefits by the end of June and is targeting $1.8 billion by year-end.4 Its Peter Cunningham said about $530 million of that came from cost savings, with the rest from volume improvements.4 The point is that self-help is not unique to Dow. The mix matters, though: cost savings are within management's control, whereas volume is not.
How much to trust these sources
The call summaries come from NewsEOD, a news feed. Our measured reliability check found that 60% of 1,069 claims checked from the Dow and Union Pacific summaries held up against their sources, and 54% of 5,518 checked claims held up across the broader set of NewsEOD pieces.1,3,4 That is a mixed record, which is why we quote management words directly and lean on SEC-filed numbers for Dow's history. The 2026 figures here (the $1.3 billion in benefits, the $14 billion in liquidity) are management statements, not audited results. The dossier also names speakers differently in places: the Dow summary labels the CEO as Karen Carter while the verbatim claims attribute the finance comments to Jeffrey Tate. We have attributed each quote to the speaker the dossier gives for it.
Smaller threads
Other dated items in our records are minor for this story. Origin Bancorp crossed $10 billion in assets, which triggers Durbin Amendment limits on card fees. The company estimates an impact of $4 million to $4.5 million beginning mid-2027.5 The FDA has set a target decision date of November 14, 2026, for Summit Therapeutics' ivonescimab application.5 Neither changes the picture for large industrial companies.
What to watch
- Whether Dow's Q4 EBITDA lands near the roughly $1.5 billion it guided to, and whether Q4 free cash flow follows Q3's $1.1 billion.1
- Whether the $1.3 billion of 2027 savings is on track by the next call, given how much of 2026's benefit is already implemented.1
- Union Pacific's fuel price against the $4.21 per gallon average, and how its cash reserves build ahead of the second-half 2027 merger close.3
