$XOM Exxon seems to lag peers as signs of oil industry recovery mount
Big earnings increases at Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) signal that the major global oil companies are gradually recov
ering from the three-year industry downturn.
Combined with results provided this week from Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Total (NYSE:TOT) and Statoil (NYSE:STO), the companies generated more than $30B in cash and managed to avoid sliding deeper into debt.
XOM's H1 capex reached just $8.1B, well below half of the company's full-year guidance of $22B, showing that spending remains under tight control.
Yet XOM's Q2 results were not well received by investors, with shares falling 1.5% in today's trade, as the company was the only global oil producer to miss earnings expectations and it continues to struggle in lifting its production.
XOM's biggest problem for investors is that the company's performance is looking less and less impressive vs. peers, Bloomberg's Liam Denning writes; for example, Shell's free cash flow after capex and dividends has accelerated past XOM and is poised to extend the trend, yet XOM still trades at a big premium to Shell on virtually any measure of value.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
