IRVING, Texas: Exxon more than doubled its profit in the first quarter as rising crude prices magnified the cost cuts made by the company as energy prices tumbled.
The company earned $4.01 billion, or 95 cents per share, for the three month period. A year earlier the Irving, Texas, company earned $1.81 billion, or 43 cents per share, as oil and gas prices sank.
Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected 85 cents per share. Exxon does not adjust its reported results based on one-time events such as asset sales.
Shares of Mobil Corp. climbed almost 2 per cent in Friday premarket trading, but are still down 10 per cent for the year.
A barrel of US crude was trading for less than $50 Friday, a third of what it cost five years ago and prices are down almost 8 per cent this year after they began sliding again this month.
Exxon’s revenue surged to $63.29 billion from $48.71 billion, but fell short of the $64.35 billion that analysts polled by Zacks were calling for.
Last month Exxon’s new CEO Darren Woods said that the company would increase production and has a mix of projects to handle any level of oil and gas prices. Woods rose to Exxon’s top job two months ago after his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, was named secretary of state by then-President-elect Donald Trump.
