ExxonMobil Corporation XOM posted first-quarter 2015 earnings of $1.17 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 80 cents. The bottom line however decreased from $2.10 in the year-ago quarter. Resilience from its integrated business model enabled the energy behemoth to beat past estimates in the current environment of persistently falling commodity prices.
In the reported quarter, the energy behemoth witnessed lower commodity prices in the Upstream business, offset by improved margins.
Total revenue in the quarter decreased from $106.3 billion in the year-ago quarter to $67.6 billion. But the top line came above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $42.6 billion.
Operational Performance
Upstream: Quarterly earnings for the segment were $2.9 billion, down $4.9 billion year over year. The decrease stemmed from lower liquids and gas realizations. Higher volumes partially offset the downside.
Production averaged 4.248 million barrels of oil-equivalent per day, up 2.3% year over year. Liquid production increased 6.0% year over year to 2.277 million barrels per day. Natural gas production was 11,828 MCF/d (millions of cubic feet per day), down 188 MCF/d from the year-ago period.
Downstream: The segment recorded profit of $1.7 billion in the first quarter, up $854 million year over year, mainly attributable to stronger margins along with favorable volume and mix effects.
ExxonMobil's refinery throughput averaged 4.5 million barrels per day, up 0.8% from the year-earlier level.
Chemical: This unit contributed approximately $982 million to the company's profits, down $65 million from the year-earlier quarter. The downside was due to unfavorable foreign exchange effects.
Financials
During the quarter, ExxonMobil generated cash flow from operations and asset sales of $8.5 billion. The company returned $3.9 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Capital spending decreased 9% year over year to $7.7 billion.
Zacks Rank
ExxonMobil currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players in the energy sector are Cheniere Energy Partners LP CQP, Sprague Resources LP SRLP and Valero Energy Partners LP VLP. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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