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Shares of Chevron Corp. ($CVX) climbed over 2% in pre-market trading Friday after the oil giant reported third-quarter earnings, revenue, and production that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations.
Chevron’s adjusted earnings per share of $2.51 beat estimates of $2.42, while revenue, though down 6.3% year-over-year to $50.67 billion, topped the consensus of $48.86 billion.
This beat propelled Chevron to the top 10 trending tickers on Stocktwits early Friday.
Chevron’s net oil-equivalent production surged by 6.9% to 3.36 million barrels per day (MBOED), better than the expected 3.27 MBOED.
That was driven by record-breaking U.S. production, up 14.1%, largely due to Permian Basin output and its recent acquisition of PDC Energy Inc. International production also rose slightly by 1.2%.
CEO Mike Wirth highlighted Chevron’s strong financial results, key project start-ups in the Gulf of Mexico, and record shareholder returns, with a $7.7 billion cash distribution in Q3, $4.7 billion of which came through stock buybacks.
Further adding to shareholder appeal, Chevron declared a quarterly dividend of $1.63, reportedly yielding 4.38% annually — a significant edge over Exxon’s 3.25% and the S&P 500’s implied 1.3% yield.
The company is also targeting $2-$3 billion in cost savings by 2026 and plans to divest $10-$15 billion in assets by 2028, including upcoming sales in Alaska, Canada, and Congo.
Despite recent gains, CVX is down 0.2% year-to-date, underperforming both the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF ($XLE) and the broader S&P 500, as its $53-billion deal to buy Hess Corp. ($HES) faces an arbitration battle.
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