Exxon Mobil is expected to report its first profit in over five quarters based on data on a securities filing submitted by the oil and gas company Thursday.
According to brokerage Raymond James & Associates, the data points to the company potentially reporting a profit of around $2.55 billion for its current quarter. The data showed improved results across all of the company's businesses globally spurred by the reopening of major economies.
Exxon's stock has remained largely in the green, closing 12 cents higher to $55.95 in late Wednesday trading. The stock has gained more than a third year-to-date. Exxon is expected to release its full first-quarter earnings report on April 30.
Analysts at the brokerage said that the data supports their initial expectations given the higher oil and gas prices, offset by costs from the deep freeze in February.
Exxon previously said that it had incurred significant damages and lost production volumes due to the February freeze. The severe weather had forced it to shut down its refineries and chemical plants in Texas. Rivals such as Devon Energy and ConocoPhillips also made similar warnings of production losses due to the cold snap.
Analysts estimate that Exxon could post a loss of around $400 million for the period, including costs related to the cold weather. Exxon is expected to recoup those losses from the better-than-expected performance of its chemicals operations, the only unit to report a profit in 2020. Analysts said that the business unit could provide a $600 million profit boost.
Analysts at Refinitiv IBES concluded with the estimates made by Raymond James & Associates. However, its estimates were slightly lower with analysts expecting Exxon to report first-quarter earnings of about $2.34 billion. This is still a significant jump from its reported $610 million loss over the same quarter last year.
