Another quarter is in the books, and energy behemoth ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) continues to generate -- and share -- copious amounts of cash flow. Much like rival BP (NYSE:BP), ExxonMobil continues to do right by its shareholders even though energy production levels aren't anything to crow about.
For the third quarter, the company saw revenue grow 32% to more than $100 billion. Quite frankly, I can't quite grasp the notion of such a tremendous amount of revenue coming into a single company. Leaving out some so-called "extraordinary" items, Exxon saw net income rise 33% in the quarter and earnings per share grow by 38%.
Operating cash flow totaled $15.7 billion in the period, up by two-thirds from last year's figure. While the company continues to pour a lot of that money into exploration and other capital expenditures -- to the tune of $4.4 billion this quarter -- it also spent $5.5 billion on share repurchases and continues to support a reasonable dividend.
As I've often pointed out with the big oil and gas players, production is something of an issue. Production was down 4.7% as reported, and even accounting for hurricanes and divestments, production turns up a figure of -1%. While liquids production fell a bit more than 2%, gas production was down 9%. These production declines were, of course, offset by higher realized prices, with oil and natural gas climbing in price by more than 30% from last year on an average realized basis.
I really don't think anybody buys ExxonMobil stock with the notion of long-term growth, so that's not an issue here. Rather, ExxonMobil is a strong cash producer, and I would expect healthy dividend payments and share buybacks unless energy prices absolutely crash. Thus, I think this company is a good income-oriented idea along the lines of Total (NYSE:TOT), while investors seeking a bit more growth in big-cap energy might want to look more in the direction of Eni (NYSE:E) or PetroChina (NYSE:PTR).
For more Takes on oil without that greasy feeling:
Total is a Motley Fool Income Investor selection.
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson owns shares of PetroChina. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
