Which Is a Better Investment, ConocoPhillips or Shell plc Stock?

By Tudor Pop
June 07, 2026
Large versus logo comparing two stocks in the same industry
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Shell plc or ConocoPhillips because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Shell plc and ConocoPhillips compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Shell plc and ConocoPhillips

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and other parts of the Americas. It operates through the following segments: Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions. The company explores for and extracts natural gas to produce liquefied natural gas or convert it into gas-to-liquids (GTL) fuels and other products; explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; and operates marketing and transportation of oil, gas, and liquids, supported by the infrastructure required to deliver them to market or to process them within Shell's chemical manufacturing plants and refineries. It is also involved in marketing, which includes mobility, lubricants, and sectors focused on decarbonization; operates a retail network, including electric vehicle charging, convenience retail, and the wholesale commercial fuels business for transport and industry; sells products for road transport and machinery in manufacturing, mining, power generation, agriculture, and construction; and provides low-carbon energy solutions, such as biofuels, to a broad range of commercial customers, including those in the aviation, marine, and agriculture sectors. In addition, the company offers chemicals and products, including chemicals manufacturing plants with their own marketing network, and refineries that turn crude oil and other feedstocks into a range of oil products, which are moved and marketed around the world for domestic, industrial, and transport use; and operates a pipeline business, trading, and optimization of crude oil, oil products, and petrochemicals. The company was formerly known as Royal Dutch Shell plc and changed its name to Shell plc in January 2022. Shell plc was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids. It operates in five segments: Alaska; Lower 48; Canada; Europe, Middle East and North Africa; and Asia Pacific. The company’s portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects. It serves in the United States, Canada, China, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and internationally. ConocoPhillips was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Latest Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels and Shell plc, ConocoPhillips Stock News

As of June 5, 2026, Shell plc had a $241.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels median of $2.3 million. Shell plc’s stock is up 16.2% in 2026, up 1.5% in the previous five trading days and up 26.95% in the past year.

Currently, Shell plc’s price-earnings ratio is 26.7. Shell plc’s trailing 12-month revenue is $267.3 billion with a 7.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $10.694 per share for the current fiscal year. Shell plc currently has a 3.5% dividend yield.

As of June 5, 2026, ConocoPhillips had a $142.7 billion market cap, putting it in the 98th percentile of all stocks. ConocoPhillips’s stock is up 25.1% in 2026, up 2.8% in the previous five trading days and up 36.29% in the past year.

Currently, ConocoPhillips’s price-earnings ratio is 19.9. ConocoPhillips’s trailing 12-month revenue is $59.4 billion with a 12.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -5.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $9.910 per share for the current fiscal year. ConocoPhillips currently has a 2.9% dividend yield.

How We Compare Shell plc and ConocoPhillips Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Shell plc and ConocoPhillips’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Shell plc and ConocoPhillips Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
Shell plc SHEL C
ConocoPhillips COP C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Shell plc has a Value Score of 57, which is Average. ConocoPhillips has a Value Score of 53, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Shell plc or ConocoPhillips has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Shell plc or ConocoPhillips is the better investment when it comes to value.

Shell plc and ConocoPhillips’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
Shell plc SHEL A
ConocoPhillips COP A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Shell plc has a Quality Score of 85, which is Very Strong. ConocoPhillips has a Quality Score of 89, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Shell plc and ConocoPhillips have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Shell plc and ConocoPhillips’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Shell plc SHEL C
ConocoPhillips COP B

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Shell plc has a Momentum Score of 56, which is Average. ConocoPhillips has a Momentum Score of 63, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: ConocoPhillips

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, ConocoPhillips is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Shell plc. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, ConocoPhillips could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

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Other Shell plc and ConocoPhillips Grades

In addition to Quality, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

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Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Shell plc and ConocoPhillips pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Shell plc or ConocoPhillips Stock?

Overall, Shell plc stock has a Value Score of 57, Momentum Score of 56 and Quality Score of 85.

ConocoPhillips stock has a Value Score of 53, Momentum Score of 63 and Quality Score of 89.

Comparing Shell plc and ConocoPhillips’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

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AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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