Exxon Mobil's Profit Tumbles, But Beats Expectations

Exxon Mobil Corp. reported on Tuesday fourth-quarter earnings that fell to $2.78 billion, or 67 cents a share, from $8.84 billion, or $1.56 a share, in the same period a year ago. That beat the FactSet earnings-per-share consensus of 63 cents. Revenue dropped to $59.81 billion from $87.28 billion. The FactSet sales consensus was $50.8 billion. Oil-equivalent production increased to 4.25 million barrels per day from 4.05 million barrels per day. "While our financial results reflect the challenging environment, we remain focused on the business fundamentals, including project execution and effective cost management," said Chief Executive Rex Tillerson. The stock, which slipped 0.7% in premarket trade, has lost 11% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ahs slipped 7.7%.