America’s Biggest Oil Giant Beats Earnings Expectations

The largest U.S. oil and gas major, ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) beat analyst forecasts although it reported on Friday a 49-percent slump in earnings for the third quarter, weighed down by low oil and natural gas prices. Exxon booked earnings of US$3.17 billion in Q3, down from US$6.24 billion for the same quarter last year. Earnings per share slumped to US$0.75 from US$1.46. Still, the EPS for Q3 2019 beat the analyst consensus of US$0.67 provided by The Wall Street Journal. The lower oil prices in the third quarter were the main drivers of the weakened…