Shares of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) dipped 3% on Friday after the oil giant reported first quarter results that were below expectations. Net income fell 49% from the comparable period last year.
Exxon Mobil attributed the disappointing results to a drop in oil and gas prices as well as weakness across its divisions. It posted minimal production gains that were offset by low oil and gas prices.
Crude prices strengthened in the company’s upstream segment but remained relatively weak compared to the previous quarter while warmer weather had a negative impact on natural gas prices.
Revenue at its chemical segment fell by $219 million from a year earlier. Exxon Mobil posted a quarterly loss in the downstream segment citing weak fuel margins due to overflowing stockpiles of gasoline.
XOM Earnings & Outlook
Net income during the quarter fell to $2.35 billion or $0.55 per share, from $4.65 billion, or $1.09 per share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue decreased to $63.63 billion from $68.21 billion. On average, analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting earnings of $0.70 per share on revenue of $64.82 billion.
Oil and gas production increased 2% to 4 million barrels a day from 3.9 million a year earlier. Net income at its upstream segment came in at $2.88 billion compared to $3.31 billion it reported in the year-earlier period.
Revenue at the chemical segment fell to $518 million from $737 million while its downstream segment posted a loss of $256 million from a profit of $940 million last year.
Exxon Mobil CEO Comments
Exxon Mobil Chairman and Chief Executive Darren W. Woods commented, “Solid operating performance in the first quarter helped mitigate the impact of challenging Downstream and Chemical margin environments. In addition, we continued to benefit from our integrated business model.”
“We are making strong progress on our growth plans and expect to deliver sustained value for our shareholders. The change in Canadian crude differentials, as well as heavy scheduled maintenance, similar to the fourth quarter of 2018, affected our quarterly results,” added Woods.
Exxon Mobil Corporation Profile
ExxonMobil is an integrated oil and gas company that explores for, produces, and refines oil around the world. In 2017, it produced 2.3 million barrels of liquids and 10.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. At year-end 2017, reserves stood at 21.0 billion barrels of oil equivalent (including 5.3 billion for equity companies), 57% of which are liquids.
The company is the world’s largest refiner with a total global refining capacity of 4.9 million barrels of oil per day and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of commodity and specialty chemicals. It operates its business divisions in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, North and sub-Saharan Africa, and the Asia-Pacific.
