Huffington Post – July 31, 2008 via the Consumerist:
Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results were well short of Wall Street expectations and its shares slumped 3 percent.
The record-setting results were largely expected, given that crude prices in the second
quarter were nearly double what they were a year ago. Natural gas prices were significantly higher too.
But investors expected even bigger profits Thursday, especially after Europe’s Royal Dutch Shell reported a 33 percent jump in second-quarter earnings to $11.6 billion, which fell just shy of Exxon’s own record earnings from 2007.
Whaaaa, the poor speculators lost their asses. Let’s throw a pitty party.
Not
Don
EVERYONE obcesses about the dollar figure and doesn’t look at the fact that their PROFIT MARGIN has been unchanging!
V.I. Obama playing to the lowest denomiator, NO COMPANY HAS EVER MADE THIS MUCH MONEY.
Right, profits are evil.
Profits are considered evil when they’re derived from gouging. Here we have tremendous profits despite the fact that the costs of production are way up and demand is way down. Under that scenario profits should also be way down. But the so called laws of economics aren’t exactly like the laws of physics, are they?
#3 “Here we have tremendous profits despite the fact that costs are way up and demand is way down. ”
Umm, these are global companies. Global demand is WAY up. When did worldwide demand for oil go WAY down?
The demand went down when they raised their prices.
#5 “The demand went down when they raised their prices.”
Not possible. Demand rises as prices go up. 🙂
The quarterly increase in earnings does not necessarily equate to an increase in quarterly net profit. As #2 pointed out, when the cost of crude increases, maybe due to commodity speculation, the oil companies also have to pay the increased cost of oil. All that matters to me as a consumer, is that they keep making Mobil Synergy 8000 high octane fuel.
They should have made 50B!!! everyone know we are running out of everything! Fuel, water, food, air, land, and parts for a 1065 Ford Falcon!
Wait till every person on the Earth is driving a new BMW!
Yahoo!
XOM will rule!
But but…it’s all supply and demand! uh..yea..uh..right! Those who do make money off the blood of other america’s can rot in the hot place for eternity for all I care.. shame on you!
It’s common for share price to fall after a “record” profit announcement because investors see the next period and showing a decline on this record. The only way from the record level is down.
How are they going to get by ?
Because many Americans are just plain ignorant about economics, let it be said that Exxon’s profit margin was ~8.5%. Sure they made a record net profit but how much money did they have to spend to make that profit? Here are the facts for the idiots who complain about obscene profits in an industry that spends obscene amounts in investments to do something not any company can just do.
Try reading this to get a perspective. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2008/07/some-things-are.html
wARDEN.
But this is only PARt of the problem.
This is 1 corp of the 4 WORLD corps making money.
THEY ALL made this, and more.
The recording and movie industry is rampant with OVER pricing.
Foods are Over priced and over processed.
clothing bought in Asia and middle east for $1, are being sold HERE for $10-100..
Profit margin on GAS, is anything above ABOUT $1.50-2.00.
Time for me to buy more XOM. There is no way we are going to stop our consumption of oil in the near future, thus there is no way that big oil is going to fall on rough times in the near future. We will complain but do nothing, and I will continue to buy and collect my dividends.
What is wrong with this picture? This is disgusting!This past year the exorbitant cost of fuel has seriously damaged our economy.From filling up the car to paying more for every consumer product whose cost of production and shipping was passed on to us there was little left over.We spend less because we have less, this results in even more job losses. OPEC has us over a barrel literally.WE reduce our use cut production by 1.5 million barrels a day & will cut more they say. .Our country needs to invest in reducing our dependence on foreign oil. The 168 Billion they paid out in the last stimulus pkg that did nothing at all for our economy would have gone a long way toward getting us started on the road to energy impendence. Utilizing renewable energy sources would not only provide clean low cost fuel it would create an estimated 1million plus jobs. I just read Jeff Wilson’s new book The Manhattan Project of 2009. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in seeing America become more energy independent.