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Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) reports Q4 adjusted EPS $1.71 vs estimate of

$1.68

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Exxon achieves highest annual upstream production in 40+

years

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Exxon plans $20 billion share buyback through 2026

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Shares fall 2% in premarket trading

(Adds outlook for 2026 upstream production, updates share, adds

analyst comment)

By Sheila Dang

HOUSTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) beat

Wall Street targets in fourth-quarter earnings reported on

Friday, with higher oil production in profitable Permian Basin

and Guyana assets helping to ‌boost the No. 1 U.S. oil producer's

results.

Adjusted earnings for the October to December quarter were $1.71

per share, beating a consensus estimate of $1.68 per share from

analyst data ​compiled by LSEG.

Shares declined 2% in premarket trading.

Oil producer profits were under pressure throughout 2025 as

an oversupplied crude ‍market pushed Brent oil futures

down 19% last year. Exxon's full-year 2025 adjusted profit

declined ⁠by a narrower margin of ⁠10%, however, as the company

focused on cutting costs.

"We're capturing more value from every barrel and molecule

we produce and building growth platforms at scale - creating ‌a

long runway of profitable growth through 2030 and beyond," Exxon

CEO ​Darren Woods said in a statement.

ON TRACK FOR HIGHER 2026 OIL PRODUCTION

Adjusted upstream earnings in the fourth quarter were $4.4

billion, down from $5.7 billion the previous quarter. Annual

upstream production reached its highest ⁠point in more than 40

years at 4.7 million barrels ‍of oil equivalent ​per day, the

company said. In the fourth quarter, production reached nearly 5

million boepd.

Exxon is on track to grow full-year 2026 production to 4.9

million boepd, which will include about 1.8 million boepd from

the Permian ‍Basin, the top U.S. oilfield, the company said in

prepared remarks.

During an earnings call with analysts later on Friday, Woods

will likely face questions about how the company is evaluating

the possibility of reentering Venezuela, following the U.S.

capture and removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

earlier this month.

U.S. President Donald Trump has urged American companies to

spend billions in the country to revive the oil industry. Woods

called the country "uninvestable" during a White House meeting

with Trump and other oil executives, ​saying the ‍company needed

investment protections because its assets had been expropriated

twice before. The company remains open to visiting the country

with a technical team to explore options, Reuters has reported,

citing a source familiar with Exxon's ​thinking.

STRONGER REFINING HELPS LIFT RESULTS

The oil major recorded a jump in both quarterly and annual

refining profit, driven by stronger industry refining margins,

cost savings and record refinery throughput.

Adjusted downstream profit rose 60% from the third quarter

to $2.9 billion.

The chemicals division, however, reported an adjusted loss

of $11 million compared with profit of $515 million in the third

quarter, due to weaker margins, writedowns and higher seasonal

spending, Exxon said.

"Notably, this is the first negative result for (Exxon's)

chemicals product division since 4Q19, and highlights the

severity of the chemicals downturn the industry is ​facing," said

Biraj Borkhataria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, in a

research note.

Exxon paid $17.2 billion in dividends and repurchased $20

billion worth of shares last year. The company said it plans to

buy back the same amount through 2026.

Exxon's capital expenditures totaled $29 billion last year. The

oil producer has said capex this ‍year will be between $27

billion and $29 billion.