Exxon Stock Rallies After Earnings Beat

Shares of ExxonMobil gained 1.3% in premarket trade Friday after the company reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The oil giant reported net income of $4 billion, or 95 cents, compared with $1.8 billion, or 43 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue for the period climbed to $63.3 billion from $48.7 billion last year. Analysts on average were calling for earnings of 88 cents on sales of $66.4 billion, according to a FactSet survey. The company attributed many of the gains to its upstream business, which saw earnings swing to a profit of $2.3 billion from a year-earlier loss of $76 million. Shares of Exxon have declined by 5% in the past three months and nearly 8% in the past year, underperforming both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average . The Dow, a 30-member index that includes Exxon, has gained 4.4% in the past three months and nearly 18% in the past year.