Exxon Mobil has exceeded Wall Street’s earnings predictions in the latest quarterly report, although the company faced a notable profit decline compared to the same period last year due to weakened oil prices.
For the first quarter, Exxon announced a dividend of 95 cents per share payable on March 11. In 2023, the company returned $32.4 billion to shareholders, distributing $14.9 billion in dividends and $17.4 billion in share buybacks.
Exxon’s stock experienced a 1% premarket trading increase.
Here’s a breakdown of Exxon’s fourth-quarter performance versus Wall Street expectations, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG (formerly known as Refinitiv):
- Earnings per share: $2.48 adjusted versus the expected $2.21
- Revenue: $84.3 billion versus the anticipated $85.2 billion
Exxon reported a net income of $7.63 billion, or $1.91 per share, in Q4 2023, marking a 40% decline from the $12.75 billion, or $3.09 per share, reported in the same quarter of 2022.
A $2 billion impairment charge in California, stemming from regulatory issues hindering production and distribution, impacted profits. Excluding these charges, Exxon earned $2.48 per share, surpassing the expected $2.21 per share.
Crude oil prices faced volatility in 2023, dropping over 10% for the year, influenced by a weakening Chinese economy and record oil production in the U.S.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods highlighted, “If you take the market out of it, you take prices and margins out and just look at it on an apples-to-apples basis, we’ve more than doubled our earnings power from 2019 to 2023,” during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Despite reaching a 2023 closing high of $120.20 on Sept. 27, coinciding with peak oil prices, Exxon’s shares concluded the year 16% lower from that high due to a crude oil pullback.
Profits from Exxon’s oil and gas segment dwindled to $4.1 billion in the quarter, a 49% drop compared to the $8.2 billion reported in the same period the previous year. Energy product profits fell to $3.2 billion, down 21% from $4.07 billion in Q4 2022.
Exxon maintained a production of 3.73 million oil equivalent barrels per day in 2023, showing marginal change from the previous year. Production in the Permian Basin and Guyana increased by 18% over 2022, as reported by the company.
In October, Exxon agreed to acquire shale rival Pioneer Natural Resources for about $60 billion in an all-stock transaction, with the deal expected to conclude in the first half of this year.
