ISI Group Analyst: Exxon Posted Positive Surprise And The Best Earning Quality Thus Far Into The Super Major Category

Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM reported first-quarter earnings earlier today. EPS for the company fell drastically by 46 percent from $2.10 to $1.17, while revenue saw a 36 percent year-over-year drop and came at $67.6 billion.

Doug Terreson, ISI Group analyst, was on CNBC post Exxon’s results to weigh in on the numbers.

Surprise From Both Upstream And Downstream

“They did post fantastic results,” Terreson said. “And this company was really built for conditions like these when you think about the diversification of its business mix and… the strength of its model was pretty clear today with its earnings report which surpassed the Street’s expectations by almost 45 percent.”

“Even though the oil price declined considerably during the quarter and what was different about their results in relation to the other super majors was that the surprise was from both the upstream and the downstream.”

He continued, “So, they posted a positive surprise and the best earnings quality that we have seen thus far into the reporting season, into the super major category. So, I [don’t know] the result was strong and it was higher quality, more higher quality than that of its peers so great for Exxon today.”

Neutral On Stock

On his outlook for Exxon’s stock, Terreson said, “We are Neutral Exxon Mobil and the reason why I guess because there are other companies out there with more leverage to the rise in oil price than we envision which is out of consensus.”