Chevron Corp. saw its stock value drop for the first time in eight days after it shared its earnings for the first quarter.
Despite some tough challenges, like natural gas prices going down a lot, Chevron did better than expected. They made a profit of $5.5 billion, or $2.97 per share. That’s less than last year when they made $6.57 billion, or $3.46 per share.
The main reasons for the drop were lower profits from selling refined products and less money from natural gas. But even with that, Chevron’s adjusted earnings per share were $2.93, a bit higher than what people thought they would be at $2.92. Their revenue went down by 4.1% to $48.72 billion, but it still beat the expected $48.42 billion.
How Did Investors’ Responded?
Chevron said they made 12% more oil and gas all over the world, especially in the U.S., where they had a big 35% increase. They got this boost from buying PDC Energy and doing well in the Permian and Denver-Julesburg areas.
Chevron also thought they would make even more oil in the Permian in the first half of the year. Even though they made a bit less oil and gas in other countries, Chevron still showed they were strong at what they did.
Chevron also wanted to give back to the people who owned its stock. They gave $6 billion to shareholders in the last three months, with $3 billion in dividends and almost $3 billion buying back shares.
What Happened in the Stock Market?
The whole energy industry had a tough time because Chevron and Exxon Mobil Corp., another big energy company, didn’t do as well financially.
This made U.S. energy stocks drop. Exxon Mobil’s stock fell by almost 4%, and Chevron’s went down by 0.8%. People reacted to how these companies were doing financially.
These results affected the energy sector in the S&P 500, a big group of important U.S. stocks where both Chevron and Exxon Mobil are significant players. People who watch the markets closely pay attention to what happened, thinking about what it could mean for the future of the energy sector.
Problems Around the World
Things are even more complicated for the energy industry because of issues in different parts of the world.
Exxon Mobil has to deal with problems in the Middle East and Russia, which are making things hard, according to its CFO.
On top of that, Exxon and Chevron are disagreeing about Chevron trying to buy Hess Corp. This shows how important Exxon’s big oil find in Guyana is. Even though Exxon is doing well in that area, this argument adds uncertainty to what might happen next for both companies.
