Exxon Mobil and Chevron reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit early Friday. Exxon executives claimed, despite pressure on prices and margins, their "strategy remains unchanged." Meanwhile, Chevron stressed shareholder value, returning nearly $7 billion to stockholders in Q1 but plans to reduce that amount in the second quarter.
Exxon Q1 profit fell 14.5% to $1.76 per share while sales increased less than 1% to $83.13 billion. Chevron first-quarter earnings dropped nearly 26% to $2.18 per share with sales declining 2.3% to $47.61 billion.
Prior to Friday's release, analysts predicted Exxon Mobil earnings of $1.75 per share with sales totaling $86.35 billion, according to FactSet. Chevron's Q1 EPS target was $2.16 on revenue of $48.25 billion.
The reports from the two supermajors come as U.S. oil prices dipped to their lowest level in more than four years early Thursday. Heading into the Q1 financial announcements, more than the top and bottom line numbers, investors were arguably more interested in buybacks, commentary on sinking oil prices and the impact of President Donald Trump's oil production policies.
The falling oil prices reflect expectations for demand destruction tied to the trade war launched by the U.S., as well as production increases among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Exxon stock edged up 0.4% while Chevron gained 1.6% during Friday's stock market action. Collectively, the 22 stocks in the IBD-tracked Oil & Gas-Integrated industry group have dropped more than 3% in 2025.
Exxon Mobil And Chevron Earnings Takeaways
XOM production totaled 4.55 million barrels of oil equivalent per day during the quarter, up from 3.78 million daily oil equivalent barrels during the same period last year.
Exxon paid $4.3 billion in dividends and repurchased $4.8 billion in shares during the quarter. That put it on track to meet its annual share repurchase goal of $20 billion. Meanwhile, capital expenditures were $5.9 billion, also consistent with the company's full-year guidance range of $27 billion-$29 billion.
"In this uncertain market, our shareholders can be confident in knowing that we're built for this," Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods said in a statement.
In prepared marks for the Q1 earnings call, Exxon Vice President Jim Chapman said "headlines today are dominated by the uncertainty from tariffs, which is weighing on economic forecasts and causing market volatility."
"Our strategy is unchanged, our position is strong, and our track record speaks for itself," Chapman said.
For Chevron, Chief Executive Mike Wirth said in the earnings release that Chevron is focused on creating shareholder value. Chevron produced 3.35 million barrels per day in the quarter, largely flat compared to 3.34 million a year ago.
Meanwhile, capital expenditures declined about 5% to $3.9 billion, down from $4.1 billion one year ago, as "the inorganic investment in power solutions for U.S. data centers was more than offset by lower spend in downstream."
The company also returned $6.9 billion cash to shareholders. However, Chevron will repurchase about $2.75 billion of stock in the second quarter, representing about a 30% reduction compared to the $3.9 billion in Q1.
"This quarter reflected continued strong execution and progress on our objective to deliver superior shareholder value," said Wirth said Friday, adding that the oil major has returned more than $78 billion of cash to shareholders in the past three years.
"Despite changing market conditions, our resilient portfolio, strong balance sheet, and consistent focus on capital and cost discipline position us to deliver industry-leading free cash flow growth by 2026," Wirth said.
Oil Prices And Trump
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate oil prices dropped around 1% Friday to around $58.74 per barrel. The price dipped to its lowest level on Thursday since February 2021. Thursday morning's low of $56.39 was down more than 3% from Wednesday's settle price of $58.21, marking a drop of more than 10% since Friday. Thursday's low was almost 28% below the year's high of more than $78 chalked up on Jan. 13.
Brent futures, the international benchmark, also traded above $61 per barrel on Friday.
Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday announced on Truth Social that any person or country that buys oil or petrochemicals from Iran will not be allowed to do any business with the U.S.
Oil Price Skids To 4-Year Low; Goldman Slashes Oil Outlook
While oil prices have dropped lower, U.S. natural gas prices have swung wildly, increasing 20% so far this year.
XOM: Buybacks And Oil Prices
The U.S. supermajors' Q1 reports come after U.K.-based BP on Tuesday cut its buyback program after announcing weaker-than-expected earnings. BP reduced its buyback plan to $750 million per quarter, down from its previous $1.75 billion plan, partly due to falling oil prices.
Prior to BP's decision, investors were already concerned Exxon or Chevron might whittle away their buyback programs amid sinking oil prices, Reuters reported on Monday. Exxon previously said it expects to repurchase $20 billion in shares annually through 2026, and last year paid $16.7 billion in dividends.
Chevron in 2023 guided annual share repurchases to between $10 billion and $20 billion by 2025, assuming Brent prices between $50-$70 per barrel. The company is currently in the process of cutting up to $3 billion in costs and laying off up to 8,000 employees.
Shell, another U.K.-based company, also reported better-than-expected Q1 profit early Friday and kept it share buyback plan steady. Chief Executive Wael Sawan said that Shell can sustain its current dividend of 36 cents per share with oil prices of $40 per barrel.
Exxon Mobil: Production Forecasts
In early December, Exxon Mobil went against the industry grain and boosted its capital spending outlook. The recent industry strategy has revolved around defending balance sheets, directing funds back into stock repurchases and dividends, and increasing production through acquisitions, rather than through increased drilling and well development.
Exxon Mobil, Chevron See Another Earnings Dip In Q4 But Report Production Increases
On Dec. 11, Exxon Mobil announced planned capital spending of between $27 billion and $29 billion for 2025 — essentially unchanged from the 2024 target of $28 billion. For the 2026 to 2030 period, Exxon projected spending between $28 billion and $33 billion. The company said it would increase production modestly, around 18%, by the end of the decade, to 5.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Exxon has primarily grown by focusing on expanding its Permian Basin assets in the U.S. Its acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, announced in October, was a $59.5 billion step in that direction.
Meanwhile, Chevron on Dec. 5 whittled back its 2025 capex budget to between $14.5 billion and $15.5 billion, below its prior $15.5 billion to $16.5 billion in planned 2024 spending.
The Shadow Of Guyana
Chevron also awaits a court decision on its acquisition of Hess, expected in the first half of 2025. Exxon, which operates the offshore Guyana project upon which Chevron's Hess deal hinges, claims it has the right of first refusal, ahead of Chevron's takeover.
The arbitration hearing is scheduled for May 2025. Chevron previously hoped for a decision in Q4 2024.
The energy industry touts offshore Guyana, a resource pioneered by Exxon, as the largest oil discovery in the last 10 years.
Hess on Wednesday topped Q1 expectations, even as profit slipped 43%. The company reported that the earnings decline was primarily driven by a 12% rise in operating costs and a higher effective tax rate, rather than commodity prices.
"The pending legal arbitration between ExxonMobil and Chevron over HES' 30% Guyana stake remains a key uncertainty, as we believe CVX will terminate its acquisition of HES if XOM prevails in the May proceedings, while a CVX victory would likely lead to a swift deal completion," CFRA analyst Stewart Glickman wrote on Wednesday.
Chevron reported Friday that in Q1 it acquired $2.2 billion of Hess stock. The company wrote Friday that this reflects "continuing confidence in the consummation of the pending acquisition of Hess."
Exxon And Chevron Stocks
XOM and CVX stocks fell 13.3% and 31.2%, respectively, in April as Trump's tariff and trade policy whipsawed the stock market. However, during the year's stock market trade, Exxon Mobil stock is down just 2% through Wednesday, while Chevron declined 6%.
Exxon Mobil stock has a 21-day average true range of 3.94%. The ATR metric is available on IBD's MarketSurge charting tool. It gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior. Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily action, the kind that can trigger sell rules and shake investors out of a stock, have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more incremental moves have lower ATRs.
There are exceptions, but given current stock market conditions, IBD generally suggests investors keep most of their portfolio focused on stocks with ATRs at or below 6%. Chevron has a 21-day average true range of 4.06%.
Exxon Mobil stock has a 50 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. XOM also has a 39 Relative Strength Rating and a 57 EPS Rating.
Please follow Kit Norton on X @KitNorton for more coverage.
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