What happened
On the back of the good-but-not-excellent first-quarter report it delivered Friday morning, energy sector giant ExxonMobil's (XOM 0.02%) share price rose during the session. It has had better quarters, for sure, but nevertheless, investors bid the stock up by 1.3%, a better result than the S&P 500 index's 0.8% gain on the day.
So what
ExxonMobil earned just under $86.6 billion in revenue in Q1, which was down from the $90.5 billion it booked in the same quarter of 2022. That tracked with a 3% drop in production; this totaled 2.98 million oil-equivalent barrels per day during the period. Those declines likely tempered investors' reaction to the earnings release.
But non-GAAP (adjusted) net income went in the opposite direction, rising by nearly 32% to land at slightly over $11.6 billion, or $2.83 per share.
Both headline financial metrics were comfortably above analysts' consensus estimates. On average, prognosticators were expecting less than $82.7 billion on ExxonMobil's top line and only $2.60 per share in adjusted net income.
Now what
The massive and sprawling energy company attributed its notable improvement in profitability to the "growth of advantaged assets, mix improvements, and cost and execution efficiencies."
That filtered down into a rise in free cash flow, an important metric for the company, not least because it helps fuel its dividend -- a favorite among income investors, as management has raised it every year for four decades now. Free cash flow bumped 5% higher year-over-year in the quarter to over $11.4 billion.
