TheStreet RealMoney

XOM Preview: Perched Upon a Pile of Cash

by Scott Rothbort

ExxonMobil is scheduled to release third-quarter 2008 results before the markets open on Thursday and follow up with its quarterly conference call later that morning. Analysts expect the company to post earnings of $2.39 per share on revenue of $131.38 billion. In the year-ago quarter, ExxonMobil earned $1.70 per share on revenue of $102.34 billion. I am expecting the company to perform well on the upstream part of the business as a result of increasing realizations from rising crude prices through the early part of the quarter. In the downstream businesses, lower refining and retail margins will likely be challenging. Taken together, this is exactly what we heard from Occidental Petroleum earlier in the week and what I also expect to hear from Chevron later this week. We must factor into our forward thinking the lower price of crude, recessionary demand drops and ExxonMobil's desire to...

GET THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE ON REALMONEY NOW >>

Jim Cramer
In Defense of Filthy-Rich Investment Banks
They had willing buyers for their proprietary products, and there was no deception. MORE >>

Don Dion
Build On My Skepticism
The BAB could be a nice short-term play on growing demand for the Build America Bonds. MORE >>

Rev Shark
Sudden Drop in Gold Causes a Wrinkle
Other than that, the market seems to be complacent to a fault. MORE >>

With RealMoney You Get:

Actionable ideas straight from
Wall Street to you
A front row seat to the most authoritative financial forum in town
Immediate access on your
iPhone or Blackberry