ExxonMobil points to stronger refining margins ahead of third-quarter results
ExxonMobil's full third-quarter earnings are due on October 23, before the market opens.
Published
Chart: XOM, one-minute prices, three sessions
ExxonMobil said gas price changes will add $0.3 billion to third-quarter upstream earnings compared with the second quarter, while weaker liquids prices will cut upstream earnings by $1.3 billion over the same period.
The bigger swing is in products. The company said wider margins will lift energy products earnings by $4.5 billion and specialty products earnings by $0.5 billion versus the second quarter. ExxonMobil earned $14.5 billion, or $3.48 per share, in the second quarter.
The margin gains dwarf the upstream price losses, so this quarter's earnings lean more on refining and products performance than on crude and gas prices, a shift from the pattern of recent quarters, when upstream price moves tended to drive the sequential numbers. Whether that holds will depend on whether refining margins stay elevated into the fourth quarter or ease back, which would push earnings sensitivity back toward upstream prices.
ExxonMobil's full third-quarter results are scheduled for October 23, before the market opens, when the company will report actual earnings rather than the sequential swings detailed today.