After reporting earnings Exxon Mobil (XOM) revealed that even with a weaker fourth quarter they still managed to pull off a mind blowing profit for the 2008 year of just over $45 Billion dollars.
They beat the old record (set by themselves in 2007) by some 12%.
AP reports:
Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.
The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007.
The extraordinary full-year profit wasn't a surprise given crude's triple-digit price for much of 2008, peaking near an unheard of $150 a barrel in July. Since then, however, prices have fallen roughly 70 percent amid a deepening global economic crisis.
For the most recent quarter revenue fell 27 percent to $84.7 billion. This means that even with the crummy 4th quarter Exxon still was making obscene amounts of money.
XOM stock is up about 2% to $78.50 in pre-market trading right now. Stock chart below shows key resistance between $80 - $81. The downtrending 200 day moving average needs to be dealt with before the stock can make a reputable move into the higher $80s.
Source:
Exxon Mobil sets record with $45.2 billion profit
John Porretto
Associated Press, Friday January 30, 2009, 8:27 am EST
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Exxon-Mobil-sets-record-with-apf-14206062.html
