Exxon Mobil shares fall on Q2 earnings miss

 Oil and gas company Exxon Mobil (XOM) witnessed a 3% drop in its share price after it missed analysts’ earnings estimate in the second quarter. The company reported earnings of $4 billion, or $0.92 a share, that missed analysts’ estimate of $1.24 a share. In three of the last four quarters, the company failed to beat the consensus earnings estimate.

While profits saw a miss, revenue beat market expectations. Total revenue and other income during Q2 came in at $73.5 billion versus the estimated $72.58 billion. “Second quarter results were primarily impacted by significant scheduled maintenance undertaken to support operational integrity,” said CEO Darren Woods.

Cash flow from operations and asset sales were $8.1 billion, including proceeds associated with asset sales of $307 million. During the quarter, Exxon Mobil distributed $3.5 billion in dividends to shareholders. Capital and exploration expenditures were $6.6 billion, up 69% from the prior year, reflecting key investments in Brazil, the U.S. Permian Basin and Indonesia.

Oil-equivalent production of the Texas-based company was 3.6 million barrels per day, down 7% from Q2 2017. The Hebron field in Canada continued to exceed expectations, ramping up to 25,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day in the second quarter.

Exxon Mobil continued to make significant progress in growing the Chemical business. Q2 sales were the highest since 2007, and new volumes in Singapore and the US contributed more than 530,000 metric tons of sales during the quarter.

Related: ExxonMobil reports 16% hike in Q1 earnings

During the quarter, the company completed the purchase of half of Equinor ASA’s interest in the BM-S-8 block offshore Brazil, which contains part of the pre-salt Carcara oil field. Production from the field is expected to start in 2023-2024.

Fellow oil major Chevron (CVX) reported a surge in its earnings to $3.4 billion or $1.78 per share from $1.5 billion or $0.77 per share in the year-ago quarter. Despite the surge in the profit, Chevron’s stock fell sharply as it missed earnings estimate. Shares of Exxon Mobil didn’t move much both in the year-to-date period (-2.5%) and over the past one year (+1%).

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