Why Investors Liked Exxon’s Results But Not Chevron’s

ExxonMobil (XOM) fared much better than rival Chevron (CVX) despite record-high production in Texas’ oil-and-gas-rich Permian Basin for both, as the U.S. oil giants reported second-quarter financial results.

Shares of Chevron declined nearly 3% as the company failed to meet consensus earnings projections. The firm will also relocate its headquarters to Houston, Texas from California.

Shares of Exxon, on the other hand, rose as much as 1.5% in early trading Friday after the company topped earnings expectations and recorded its first quarterly profit gain in more than a year. Shares eventually succumbed to Friday’s broad stock market selloff, but they still outperformed the energy sector by more than 2 percentage points.

Production Boom For Exxon

Exxon’s net earnings rose 17% to $9.2 billion, or $2.14 per share, from the same period a year ago. The per-share results exceeded consensus projections compiled by Visible Alpha by 10 cents.

It marked the first year-over-year quarterly profit gain for the firm after earnings declined for four consecutive quarters, primarily reflecting the profit surge most energy producers enjoyed in 2022 when oil prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The firm said its total net production, driven by record-high production in the Permian and Guyana, increased 15% from the first quarter to 574,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day. That’s the highest production since Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999.

With that increase, the firm’s profit in its upstream U.S. production business more than doubled to $2.4 billion from $1.1 billion in the first quarter, feeding the company’s highest second-quarter profit in the past decade.

In the quarter, the firm closed its previously announced $60 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources, more than doubling its Permian production. Exxon said the acquisition contributed $500 million to its earnings during the quarter.

A Lot Is Happening With Chevron

Earnings continued falling at Chevron, and the company announced several key changes, including its planned move to Houston.

The company’s profit fell 19% on an adjusted basis to $4.7 billion, or $2.55 per share. Per-share results fell 43 cents short of analyst expectations.

Whereas Exxon reaped benefits from its Pioneer purchase, Chevron remains stuck in trying to complete a similar $53 billion deal to buy Hess.

Hess has a 30% stake in a Guyana project operated by Exxon, and Exxon has filed an arbitration case arguing it has the right of first refusal to Hess’ stake. The case likely won’t get settled until May 2025.

In the meantime, Chevron faces increasing pressure to improve results. The latest quarter’s earnings decline reflected a drop in non-U.S. upstream production profit and sharply lower refinery income from the same period a year ago.

Exxon’s Lead Widens, Chevron Makes Changes

As Exxon’s shares have risen 17% this year, Chevron’s shares have lost a little under 1%. As the perceived gap between the two grows, Chevron announced several key leadership changes and a change of headquarters.

The move to Houston, Chevron said, meets a desire for the firm to be closer to the epicenter of the energy industry.

Over the past few years, several other California firms, including Oracle (ORCL), Tesla (TSLA), Charles Schwab (SCHW), and Hewlett Packard (HPE), have relocated to Texas or announced plans to do so.

In addition, Chevron executives have expressed dismay at stringent California climate regulations that many blame for the state’s high gasoline prices relative to much of the rest of the U.S.