Exxon Mobil (XOM) posted weaker-than-expected first quarter earnings Friday, thanks to a massive hit from its plans to exit operations in Russia, sending shares lower in pre-market trading.
Exxon said adjusted earnings for the three months ending in March were pegged at $1.28 per share, or $5.48 billion, up from 65 cents per share over the same period last year but significantly shy of the Street consensus forecast of $2.12 per share as the group booked a $3.4 billion charge linked to its Sakhalin exit. Adjusted earnings were pegged at $2.07 per share.
Group revenues, Exxon said, surged 53% to $90.5 billion, missing analysts' estimates of a $92.747 billion tally.
West Texas Intermediate crude prices traded between $75 and $100 per barrel over the three months ending in March -- with a spike to as high as $119.40 -- a range that was around 75% higher than the pandemic recovery levels recorded over the same period last year.
“The quarter illustrated the strength of our underlying business and significant progress in further developing our competitively advantaged production portfolio,” said CEO Darren Woods. “Earnings increased modestly, as strong margin improvement and underlying growth was offset by weather and timing impacts. The absence of these temporary impacts in March provides strong, positive momentum for the second quarter.”
Exxon shares were marked 0.7% lower in pre-market trading immediately following the earnings release to indicate an opening bell price of $86.60 each, a move that would still leave the stock up more than 41.5% for the year with a market value of $368 billion.
Earlier Friday, Chevron (CVX) topped Street forecasts with a four-fold increase in its bottom line, which hit $3.36 per share, as surged 62.5% from last year to $52 billion, smashing analysts' estimates of a $48 billion tally.
