ExxonMobil disappoints as profit and production fall short

HOUSTON (Bloomberg) -- ExxonMobil fell short of analysts’ fourth-quarter expectations in two key metrics: per-share profit and overall production.

Per-share net income, excluding one-time items such as a $5.9 billion gain from U.S. tax code changes, was $0.88, well short of the $1.03 average of 20 estimates from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Oil and natural gas output equivalent to 3.999 MMbpd also fell shy of the 4.165 million anticipated by Wall Street.

ExxonMobil fell 2.9% to $86.50 in pre-market trading. Before today, the shares had advanced 6.5% this year.

CEO Darren Woods is battling to win over investors who switched to higher-growth stocks as oil prices rebounded from the 12-year low reached in 2016. He has sought to arrest a long-term growth problem by signing off on $10 billion of acquisitions in the U.S., Brazil and Mozambique, as well as forging ahead with a major exploration venture in Guyana, off the coast of South America.