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

Exxon Mobil on Friday 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 less than 1% 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 company 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.

Oil is up more than 16% this year and gasoline futures have surged nearly 32%, but the rally has done little to lift the Exxon’s fortunes due to headwinds elsewhere in the industry. Natural gas prices have plummeted 37% this year, and refining margins are lower than they were a year ago. Chevron faced similar issues this quarter.

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

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

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

Exxon is currently locked in a dispute with Chevron over the latter’s pending acquisition of Hess Corp. Exxon has taken Chevron to arbitration court to defend rights the company claims to Hess’ assets in Guyana under a joint operating agreement.

Chevron said Friday that it expects the Hess deal to close in 2024.

Read Exxon’s full earning release here.