TotalEnergies faces investor scrutiny as debt rises and shares lag

[Exterior view of the headquarters of the oil company TotalEnergies, formerly known as Total]
HJBC/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TTE]) is under pressure to prove it can sustain returns while investing heavily in renewable energy. The French oil and gas major said Wednesday it will scale back quarterly share buybacks to $1.5 billion from $2 billion, with the program potentially shrinking to $750 million next year.

Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanné will meet investors in New York on Monday to address mounting concerns: weak stock performance versus rivals and France’s CAC 40, debt levels that doubled to $26 billion over the past year, and doubts over the profitability of its clean energy strategy, Bloomberg News reported Sunday.

While Total (NYSE:TTE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TTE]) has expanded aggressively into wind, solar and batteries, returns so far have been modest compared with traditional hydrocarbon projects.

Pouyanné has pledged to raise $3.5 billion through asset sales by year-end, including partial stakes in renewable projects, to ease leverage and improve returns. Still, the company faces headwinds: a looming oversupply in oil and gas markets, weak European petrochemicals, and refinery issues.

Since shifting its New York listing from ADRs to ordinary shares in April 2024, TotalEnergies’ (TTE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TTE]) stock has dropped about 15% in dollar terms, even as European peers gained. Political turmoil in France has added to the drag, with uncertainty dampening investor appetite for French equities.

MORE ON TOTALENERGIES

* TotalEnergies SE (TTE) Presents At Barclays 39th Annual CEO Energy-Power Conference 2025 (Transcript) [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4819576-totalenergies-se-tte-presents-at-barclays-39th-annual-ceo-energy-power-conference-2025]
* TotalEnergies: A Company In Transition Towards A Green Agenda [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4816438-totalenergies-a-company-in-transition-towards-a-green-agenda]
* TotalEnergies: Continued Long-Term Return Potential [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4814551-totalenergies-continued-long-term-return-potential]
* Nigeria OKs TotalEnergies' $510M Bonga oilfield stake sale to Shell, Agip [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4499296-nigeria-oks-totalenergies-510m-stake-sale-to-shell-agip]
* TotalEnergies to consider smaller stock buybacks in 2026 [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4498653-totalenergies-to-consider-smaller-stock-buybacks-in-2026]