Exxon revenue takes off with oil prices, profit falls short

IRVING, Texas — Exxon reported first-quarter earnings of $4.65 billion Friday, coming up just short of expectations despite rapidly rising crude prices.

Crude oil prices are recovering after years of low prices weighing down revenue and profit for Exxon and its peers. Higher prices helped offset higher costs and a drop in production.

The Irving, Texas, company’s profit jumped 16 per cent, with earnings of $1.09 per share, a nickel shy of projections on Wall Street, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose 16.3 per cent to $68.21 billion, which easily exceeded analyst expectations of $66.07 billion.

Crude prices are up about $8 per barrel since the beginning of the year.

“Increased commodity prices, coupled with a focus on operating efficiently and strengthening our portfolio, resulted in higher earnings and the highest quarterly cash flow from operations and asset sales since 2014,” said CEO Darren Woods.

On Wednesday, ConocoPhillips also reported a boost in profit and revenue, topping Wall Street expectations, on higher oil prices.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. are down slightly before the opening bell.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on XOM at https://www.zacks.com/ap/XOM