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Shares of energy companies moved higher on Friday and the week after a robust round of earnings from oil majors.
A day after Shell (SHEL) reported a Q3 profit of $9.45B and raised its dividend by 15%, U.S. giants Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) posted a combined $31B in quarterly profits.
Exxon rose 3% Friday after reporting its highest-ever quarterly profit of nearly $20B, cashing in on rising oil and natural gas prices; the stock hit a fresh record high and has surged ~80% YTD.
Chevron shares ticked up 1% after the second largest U.S. oil major posted just a slight dip from the record earnings haul it set in the prior quarter.
Natural gas prices, which rose to record levels in Q3, helped both companies post strong upstream results; Chevron said its average realized sales price of natgas was $7.05/Mcf, more than doubling from a year earlier, and Exxon’s gas realizations surged 172%, helping its upstream division profits triple from a year earlier.
U.S. natural gas prices have slumped more than 40% since their August peak, finally snapping a nine-week losing streak with the front-month Nymex December contract (NG1:COM) settling +3.9% to $5.684/MMBtu.
Also for the week, Nymex December crude oil (CL1:COM) closed +3.3% to $87.90/bbl, and December Brent crude (CO1:COM) ended +2.4% to $95.77/bbl.
Energy (XLE) ranked third from the bottom among the 11 S&P sectors this week, +2.7%.
Top 10 gainers in energy and natural resources during the past 5 days: (HLX) +37.1%, (OII) +31%, (NBR) +28.6%, (SND) +24.6%, (AZRE) +22.5%, (CHX) +22%, (TUSK) +21.5%, (NINE) +18.2%, (CGRN) +17.9%.
Top 5 decliners in energy and natural resources during the past 5 days: (BW) -33.9%, (PEGY) -27.1%, (CLF) -17.7%, (NRGV) -16.9%, (CSTM) -16.7%, (PBR.A) -16.5%, (PBR) -16.2%, (SID) -13.6%, (NEX) -12.1%, (VALE) -11.8%.
Source: Barchart.com
