This morning Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) reported its second quarter numbers, and the oil giant posted its lowest profit in nearly six years.
Going into this morning's earnings announcement analysts were expecting to see the company show earnings of $1.02 per share. Exxon did not even come close, with a reported 84 cents per share excluding one time items.
The weaker than expected numbers is another clear indication of just how low demand currently is for oil and gasoline.
Normally you would expect to see a company sell off sharply considering how wide a margin by which Exxon missed its target, but that is not the case. Shares did dip as low as $69.91 earlier in the session, but shares are currently trading down just 0.8% to $71.30, down $0.59 on the day.
Revenues were higher than expected. Analysts had been expecting to see revenues of $71.3 billion, and actual revenues were $74.5 billion. If $74 billion seems like a lot of money to you, consider that during the same period last year the company posted a quarterly profit of $138.1 billion.
In addition to better than expected revenues, the stock is also likely getting some support by rising oil prices today. Oil has rebounded nicely after yesterday's sell off and is currently up $3.17 a barrel.
Despite falling demand and volatile oil prices, the company feels good about its quarterly numbers. The company's Chairman, Rex Tillerson, stated that Exxon "achieved solid results."
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