Exxon Missed Earnings Estimates Despite Declining Profits By 56%

(CTN News) – On Friday, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) missed analysts’ expectations as it reported 56% lower earnings for the second quarter amid lower natural gas prices and lower refining margins for the company.

On Friday, Exxon reported earnings of $7.9 billion for the second quarter of 2023, or $1.94 per share in the case of dilution.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, oil and gas prices surged after which the company earned a record profit of $17.85 billion for the second quarter of 2022.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Exxon’s earnings per share for the second quarter of this year were below the consensus estimate of $2.03 EPS compiled by the analysts.

Due to the low natural gas price and lower refining margins, Exxon warned in the beginning of this month that it expects sharply lower earnings in the second quarter.

As it turned out, Exxon did indeed hit its profit warning target, but despite the warning, the company missed the already downgraded analyst consensus estimates.

It is estimated that upstream earnings for the second quarter of 2022 were $4.6 billion, down $1.9 billion from the first quarter and more than halved from $11 billion earnings in the upstream business for the second quarter of 2021.

According to Exxon, the main reasons behind the lower upstream earnings in Q2 were lower natural gas prices, which fell by 40% in the second quarter, and seasonally higher scheduled maintenance, the company added.

In the second quarter of 2022, the supermajor’s refining business reported earnings of $2.3 billion, down from $4.2 billion in the first quarter and $5.3 billion in the second quarter of 2022.

As oil supply concerns in Russia eased during the second quarter, Exxon said industry margins declined sequentially from a strong first quarter as diesel margins deteriorated.

In the Permian and in Guyana, two of Exxon’s top development focus areas for this decade, the company achieved record quarterly production in both areas.

Compared to the second quarter of 2022, the amount of oil-equivalent production in Guyana and the Permian grew by a combined 20% in the second quarter.

Darren Woods, CEO of Darren Woods Petroleum, declared in prepared remarks during the earnings call that, in the Permian region, we have set yet another production record and remain on track for a 10% increase in production this year.

However, despite the higher production in the Permian and Guyana fields, lower price realizations and a weakening refining margins were unable to make up for this, and Exxon joined the other supermajors in reporting lower earnings, as well as Shell and TotalEnergies, which missed analyst forecasts as well.

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