ExxonMobil surprises with earnings beat after massive miss last quarter

“We continue to make significant progress toward delivering our long-term growth plans,” said Darren Woods, ExxonMobil chairman and CEO. “Our new U.S. Gulf Coast steam cracker is exceeding design capacity by 10 percent, less than a year after startup. Our upstream liquids production increased by 8 percent from last year, driven by growth in the Permian Basin, and we are preparing to startup the Liza Phase 1 development in Guyana, where the estimated recoverable resource increased to more than 6 billion oil-equivalent barrels.”

The company’s upstream segment saw significant growth in the second quarter, which company leaders attributed to multiple factors. Average crude prices were strong during the quarter, although natural gas prices dropped due to weaker seasonal demand in Europe, according to Exxon’s earnings report. The segment also saw an increase in liquid volumes, and unconventional development in the Permian Basin continued with production up over 20 percent from the first quarter of 2019 and up nearly 90 percent from the second quarter of last year.

The company’s downstream segment declined year-over-year, but fuel margins improved from the first quarter of this year. Company leaders attributed this to stronger gasoline margins in the U.S. Results for this segment were impacted by planned maintenance and scheduled downtime during the quarter, according to the report.

Exxon’s chemical segment also declined year-over-year. Company leaders cited lower paraxylene margins and a significant increase in turnaround activity for this segment’s results. 

The earnings report also highlights Exxon’s recent efforts to become a more innovative company, including its investment into cleaner technologies.

“ExxonMobil announced that it will invest up to $100 million over 10 years to research and develop advanced lower-emissions technologies with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory,” the report reads. “The agreement, among the largest between the department’s laboratories and the private sector, will support research and collaboration into ways to bring biofuels and carbon capture and storage to commercial scale across the transportation, power generation and industrial sectors.”

Exxon’s stock has underperformed throughout most of 2019, and the company’s stock was down a little over 1 percent just after 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 2.