Exxon Mobil reported fourth-quarter 2018 earnings that easily topped Wall Street’s expectations, though revenues came in well below forecasts.
Shares of the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company were up 3.6 percent at $75.95 in premarket trading.
Here’s how the company did compared with what Wall Street expected:
- Earnings: $1.41 per share vs. $1.08 per share forecast by Refinitiv
- Revenue: $71.89 billion vs. $77.28 billion forecast by Refinitiv
Analysts will be closely watching Exxon’s headline oil and natural gas output. The Irving, Texas-based company has regularly reported lower hydrocarbon production over the last two years.
On Thursday, the oil major announced it will restructure its upstream business, consolidating operations across three companies in order to achieve its goal of doubling operating cash flow and earnings by 2025.
Exxon’s downstream business refining and selling fuels will also be on the Street’s radar. Heavy maintenance at refineries has weighed on profits in the segment. Exxon has warned of further downtime as it retools facilities to process low-sulfur fuels ahead of tighter emissions standards in the maritime shipping industry.
On Tuesday, Exxon announced a final decision to expand its Beaumont, Texas refinery to process a surge of production from shale fields in the Permian Basin. The build-out will make the Beaumont facility the second largest in the United States after Saudi Aramco’s Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.
