UPDATE: Hess Q3 Profit Beats Street View

Hess

reported upbeat results for the third quarter. The New York-based company reported a quarterly profit of $1.01 billion, or $3.31 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $420 million, or $1.23 per share. Excluding certain items, the company's adjusted earnings rose to $1.24 per share from $1.18 per share. Its revenue climbed 3.2% to $2.8 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $1.07 per share on revenue of $2.58 billion. Exploration and Production earnings fell to $441 million from $455 million. The downstream businesses posted income of $647 million in the quarter of 2014, versus income of $53 million. However, adjusted net income rose to $43 million from $30 million. Average daily oil-and-gas production gained 2.6% to 318,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter. Oil and gas production in the Bakken rose 21% in the quarter to 86,000 boepd. The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $4.1 billion. In the quarter, Hess repurchased 9.2 million shares of common stock at a cost of $903 million. “We are delivering strong performance and executing our plan,” Chief Executive Officer John Hess said. “With our focused, balanced portfolio and strong balance sheet, we are well positioned in the current price environment to drive cash generative growth and sustainable returns for our shareholders.” Hess shares rose 1.73% to $83.37 at 10:30 a.m. ET.