Exxon Mobil Corp said on Thursday soaring oil prices pushed its second-quarter earnings up 14 percent, again breaking its own record for the highest-ever profit by a U.S. company.
Net income in the quarter rose to $11.68 billion, or $2.22 a share, from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, last year.
Exxon -- the world's largest publicly traded company -- previously set the high-water mark for quarterly earnings in the fourth quarter of last year, when it brought in $11.66 billion.
Despite the new record, Exxon's results lagged behind analyst expectations.
The company posted operating earnings of $2.27 a share in the quarter, which exclude a $290 million charge related to the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Exxon Valdez case. Analysts, on average, had expected the company to earn $2.53 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue in the quarter rose about 40 percent to $138.07 billion.
Exxon both produces oil and refines it to make gasoline, and profit margins for gasoline were weak during the quarter, holding back earnings slightly.
The company said earnings from its exploration and production business rose about 68 percent to $10.01 billion. But its refining and marketing earnings fell about 54 percent to $1.56 billion.
U.S. oil prices averaged slightly less than $125 a barrel in the quarter, nearly double prices from a year earlier. Gasoline prices only rose 25 percent during that same period, resulting in weak profit margins for the fuel.
Shares of Exxon Mobil fell 2.2 percent in pre-market trade after its earnings were announced. Through Wednesday's close, they were down about 10 percent this year, underperforming the Chicago Board Options Exchange's oil index (.OIX), which has fallen about 5.2 percent over the same period.
Exxon and Mobil were allowed to merge by the Re;publican congress and white house into what it is today. They were originally all part of Standard Oil when the Rockefellers had it until the Sherman antitrust act was used to break them up. Exxon/Mobil is now making more money than anybody else ever has and driven the price way up. However, we can't blame it all on them. If we didn't pay it, they couldn't charge it.
Honk if you love Jesus.
Text if you want to meet him.
True, but they have most of us by the balls. We can reduce some expenses, of course, but most people have no choice about driving to work (in the car they have, even if it gets 16 mpg) and so on...Originally Posted by grouch
I'm all for profits as much as the next capitalist.
But that's starting to get in the 'embarassing' range.
Chip H.
Former owner: 2012 Honda Civic LX, 2006 Honda Ridgeline RTL, 2000 Honda CR-V EX, 2003 MINI Cooper S, 1992 Honda Accord LX, 1999 Mercedes ML-320, 1995 VW Jetta GLX, 1991 Mercury Capri XR2, 1981 Mercury Zephyr, 1975 Chevrolet Impala
I am going to step in and defend the oil companies. They pay three times as many taxes as they make in profits. Their profit margins are still not all that great - about 7 percent.
For the 4 bucks we pay, they do a hell of a lot more than congress or the government has ever done. The @#$#$ democrats and republicans have never produced a single gallon of gas for you and me to burn.
I will agree that big oil is benefitting form the current pricing environment and has been positioned to do so. They are making record profits only because they drill as well as refine the oil. If they only refined, they'd be in a bucket right now. Check out the stock prices of XOM and BP for a look at their real profit potential. They really haven't moved significantly in the last 2 years except for a brief period in 2006-7 when gas prices were increasing because of refinery issues.
Regarding the current pricing environment, they have directly benefitted from the patchwork quilt of refinery rules and regulations that have forced reformulated gas and designer gasolines throughout the United States. Having rules like that lessens their competition. In addition, it also hasn't hurt that XOM and BP (Ammoco, Arco, BP) and Chevron (Chevron Texaco) were allowed to merge in the 1990's, before Bush took office.
Yep - Clintigula laid a lot of the groundwork that made the disastrous presidency of The Chimp that much worse - from repeal of Glass-Steagall to "free" trade to what you've just noted in re the oil companies. Clintigula was also the first to make use of the "terror" canard to gut civil liberties and empower the coming police state.
It became apparent when Clinton started requiring that we flash our drivers licenses in order to get onto an airplane. I started to detest flying back then, circa 1995.
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