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• Exxon CEO Darren Woods spoke with CNBC on Friday morning.
• He took a positive tone despite weaker-than-expected Q4 revenue.
• Exxon stock is currently down close to 15% versus its 52-week high.

Darren Woods – the chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) attributes strength in the company’s recently concluded quarter to “excellence in execution”.

XOM has doubled its earnings power

The oil and gas behemoth came in ahead of Street estimates for per-share earnings in its fiscal fourth quarter. Its quarterly revenue, however, came in shy of expectations, as per a press release on Friday.

But Darren Woods remains content with the overall performance of $XOM as it beats peers in terms of earnings growth, cash flow generation, and shareholder returns.

On CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, the chief executive also hailed Exxon Mobil this morning for having “more than doubled earnings power from 2019 to 2023”.

The energy giant announced 95 cents a share of dividend today. Its stock is currently down close to 15% versus its 52-week high.

Exxon to take an activist group to court

On Friday, CEO Darren Woods touted “positive progress” on the border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela as well that you can read more about on this link.

Last week, XOM opted for legal action to block an activist investor group from submitting a climate proposal for vote at its annual meeting. According to its chief executive:

These are activists masquerading as investors and using other people’s shares to bring proposals that aren’t in the best interest of the company or our legitimate investors.

Note that the activist group has already withdrawn its proposal after Exxon took the matter to the court. The New York listed firm still plans on moving forward with the lawsuit as “there are still important issues for the court to resolve”.

$XOM Exxon says investors to withdraw climate proposal from annual shareholder meeting

Exxon Mobil Corp said in a court filing on Thursday activist investors were withdrawing a climate proposal the oil giant sought to block from being voted on during a shareholder meeting in…

— Tracy (𝒞𝒽𝒾 ) (@chigrl) February 2, 2024

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