Exxon stock falls as earnings miss on lower natural gas prices and squeezed refining margins

Exxon Mobil on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings that missed expectations as the industry came under pressure from eroding refining margins and collapsing natural gas prices.

Exxon’s stock was down 2.91% in early trading.

Here is what Exxon reported for the first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

• Earnings per share: $2.06 vs. $2.20 expected
• Revenue: $83.08 billion vs. $78.35 billion expected.

The nation’s largest oil producer reported net income of $8.22 billion, or $2.06 per share, a 28% decrease from earnings of $11.43 billion, or $2.79 per share, in the same period a year ago.

Revenue beat expectations, coming in at $83.08 billion, but was lower than a year ago, when the company reported $86.56 billion.

Oil and gas production profits fell 12% to $5.67 billion, compared with $6.46 billion in same quarter last year due to lower natural gas prices. Exxon produced 3.78 million barrels per day in the quarter, down slightly from the 3.83 million bpd of output in the year-ago period.

Exxon’s fuel business saw earnings plummet 67% to $1.38 billion, compared with $4.18 billion in the prior year, due to lower refining margins.

The company’s chemical products segment saw profits more than double to $785 million compared with $371 million in the same quarter last year.

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