Chevron (NYSE:CVX) +3.6% in early trading Thursday after unveiling plans to repurchase $75B of its shares and raising its quarterly dividend by 6%, moves that may bode well for the company’s upcoming Q4 results and long-term guidance.

At Wednesday’s closing price of $179.08, Chevron (CVX) shares would have a 3.4% dividend yield, topping Exxon Mobil’s (XOM) 3.2% yield.

J.P. Morgan analyst John Royall said if Chevron (CVX) were to maintain the top end of the current long-term share buyback guidance of $5B-$15B, the full authorization would be exhausted in five years; the analyst believes the higher buyback authorization “could signal higher top end guidance to come, perhaps a bump to $5B-$20B.”

RBC Capital’s Biraj Borkhataria noted that while the new buyback program has no expiration date, “we see it plausible that Chevron increases its quarterly buyback run-rate from the current $3.75B, supported by its strong balance sheet.”

Bank of America’s Doug Leggate said the buyback plan “acknowledges a balance sheet headed towards zero net debt and speaks to the balancing act this management has navigated between capital discipline and sustainable dividend growth.”

Over the last three quarters, Chevron (CVX) has averaged 200% earnings growth compared to the previous year; in Q3, the company topped earnings estimates, as EPS jumped 88% to $5.56 as sales soared to $66.6B.