NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a $10.89 billion first-quarter profit on Thursday, but still managed to disappoint investors as weak production volumes and low refining margins blunted the impact of record-high crude prices.
Earnings rose 17 percent year over year, and were the second-highest in U.S. history, but still fell short of Wall Street expectations, and its shares dropped 3.6 percent.
Exxon's near-record profits brought sharpened scrutiny from politicians and consumer groups, who are upset about sky-high gasoline prices at the pump.
Benchmark U.S. oil prices averaged a record of nearly $98 a barrel during the quarter, up about 70 percent from a year earlier.
Exxon posted record earnings of $40.6 billion in 2007, with revenue higher than the gross domestic product of Turkey, the world's 17th-largest economy. If oil prices stay above or around $100 for the remainder of 2008, the company could beat that mark.
Do Conservatives Smile When They Buy Gas-As it Helps Capitalism's Winners (EXXON $10.9 Billion in Profits)?
Sure, if everybody just tried a little harder, we could all be in the top 10%!
Not. As the dream continues to unfold, all that is happening is that you have to work ever harder to get the same standard of living.
Reply:What you really need to do is find out how much of that they made from producing crude oil and how much of it they made from selling gasoline. What you will find is that a very miniscule amount of that was made selling gasoline. The reason is that the retail fuels business is very difficult because these guys can't recover on the high prices of crude. Either way, exxon does not set the price for gasoline, and even less for crude oil, so you can't blame them.
Reply:Republicans enjoy spending $3.65 for a gallon of gas, because they know that the exorbitant profits earned by Exxon-Mobil will soon lead to more jobs being "created" and that will result in falling unemployment, increased real wages, and an economic boom. Of course, it will be three years into Obama's term, before those benefits kick in, but the Republicans know that prosperity is "just around the corner".
Reply:I smile, to think that we have a free market and that you can choose not to drive and use the product or continue with your gas guzzler and pay for the fuel is fair enough. How come liberals feel that they should share in a business' profits when they have done nothing but consume their product.
Reply:Nice of you to leave out their revenue numbers, which puts their profits in prospective. In Q1, Exxon had $116.9 billion in revenue, making $10.9 billion. Do the math and that's a 9.3% profit.
Sky-high gasoline prices are not the fault of Exxon. They're the fault of the Federal Reserve.
Reply:interesting that you left out the fact that they also payed 18 billion in taxes. so the government made more than the investors that put 14 billion back into the oil infastructure and exploration that you seem to gloss over as well.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0...
since you wont read the link.
HOFMEISTER: Well, the profit margin is a very average margin of about 7.5 percent. If you looked at -- let`s say, you used the 9.1 number. We also report a cost of replacement of goods, which is like a $7.8 billion number. And it took us $7.8 million on a revenue stream on $114 million. Nobody would say a word.
But change million to billion, the percentage is the same. Everybody gets upset. Because it is a big number. It`s a big number because we`re selling 3.5 million barrels -- that`s barrels, not gallons -- of oil a day into the open markets. And we`re selling some probably 8 million -- 8 million barrels of retail product.
BECK: But here`s the -- here`s the problem, John, I think people see these numbers, and it`s always coupled with this phrase: record profits. It`s always -- and so it only comes out when, you know, we`re struggling at the gas pump and it shows you having record profits.
HOFMEISTER: Record profits. We`re also spending record amounts on capital investment for new developments around the world. We`re also paying record amounts in taxes.
If we go back to the end of 2007, we made $27 billion in profit. We spent $25 billion on capital expenditures in the year. We paid $18 billion in taxes. Which people, a lot of elected officials don`t want to hear that number, because they don`t want to have to deal with it. We returned $16 billion to shareholders. Actually was quite a good year for everybody.
Reply:Would it make you laugh if somebody is dumb. People are paying for the war and gas. Won't they be laughing, your imagination.
Reply:Probably just as much as liberals, the government made more off of us at the pump than Exxon did.
Reply:Quit being dumb buy stock in Exxon Mobil Corp
Reply:Reactionary thought is the healthiest kind, right?
Would you spend $100 to turn that into $107? For every one hundred you spend you make seven? That's close to what kind of margins Exxon is getting for their investment, it just so happens that the capital required to stay alive in their industry is in the billions.
So the numbers seem huge, when in reality, it's nothing that any regular company or CEO would brag about. Their margins are small. Look into someone like Apple or Microsoft...check out what their margins are.
Stop and think once in awhile, eh?
Reply:Conservatives NEVER smile..They grin and bear it as they have been brainwashed to be independent, rather than interdependent. They are usually sexually frustrated, rather than sexually liberated closet gays rather than openly gay, always correct rather than questioning and exploring, all in all, a pretty sad bunch to have at a gathering.
Here is an Idea.. The other day pundits were explaining high gasoline prices, they said, not a supply problem, not a demand problem, but traders of futures drive the price per barrel, so simply....Get this....GOVERNMENT FORBIDS SPECULATION ON THE FOLLOWING:
ENERGY PRODUCTS,
FOOD
HEALTH PRODUCTS
(FEEL FREE TO EXPAND THIS LIST)
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