Shares of Chevron (CVX) are down 2% after the oil major reported third-quarter financial results that missed the expectations of Wall Street analysts.
The California-based energy company announced earnings per share (EPS) of $3.05 U.S., which was well below the $3.70 U.S. that analysts had forecast.
However, Chevron did manage to beat expectations with its Q3 revenue, reporting sales of $51.9 billion U.S. in Q3 compared to $51.4 billion U.S. that had been expected, according to data from FactSet.
Chevron had been expected to produce much stronger earnings as the price of crude oil has risen from below $70 U.S. this spring to more than $90 U.S. per barrel.
The disappointing Q3 numbers come days after Chevron announced that it is acquiring former rival Hess Corp. (HES) for $53 billion U.S. in an all-stock deal.
The Hess acquisition will allow Chevron to expand its shale and deepwater oil production. However, takeovers come with risks and Chevron’s stock has fallen since the deal was announced.
Chevron has also spent heavily in recent months to expand its reserves of oil and natural gas, and to build lower-carbon businesses.
The company previously warned that costs for maintenance at its oil and gas production and refining facilities would hurt its Q3 results.
Chevron’s profit from pumping oil and natural gas fell 38% to $5.76 billion U.S. in the third quarter from $9.3 billion U.S. a year ago. However, production volumes rose to 3.1 million barrels of oil and natural gas per day during Q3.
The company said that its refining business posted an operating profit of $1.68 billion U.S. in Q3, down from $2.53 billion U.S. a year ago.
Before today (Oct. 27), Chevron’s stock had declined 13% over the last 12 months to trade at $154.75 U.S. per share.
