An Earnings Miss: Europe’s largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS-A- Free Report) reported earnings per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items – the market’s preferred measure) of $1.36, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43 but above the year-ago profit of $1.00.

Estimate Revision Trend & Surprise History: The stock had seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings being revised 2% upward over the last 30 days.

Coming to earnings surprise history, the blue-chip company has a good record: its beaten estimates in three of the last four quarters, as shown in the chart below:

Royal Dutch Shell PLC Price and EPS Surprise

Royal Dutch Shell PLC Price and EPS Surprise | Royal Dutch Shell PLC Quote

Revenues: Revenues of $101.5 billion were 31% above the third-quarter 2017 sales of $77.7 billion.

Key Stats: Upstream segment recorded a profit of $1.9 billion (excluding items) during the quarter, soaring from the paltry $562 million (adjusted) achieved in the year-ago period. Shell’s upstream volumes averaged 2,672 thousand oil-equivalent barrels per day (MBOE/d), 1% higher than the year-ago period. At $68.38 per barrel, the group’s worldwide realized liquids prices were 45% above the year-earlier levels while natural gas prices were up 16%.

In the downstream segment – that focuses on refining, marketing and retailing – the Anglo-Dutch super-major reported adjusted income of $2 billion, 25% less than the $2.7 billion earned in the year-ago period.

The Integrated Gas unit reported adjusted income of $2.9 billion, up 79% from the $1.3 billion in July-September quarter of 2017.

Moreover, the oil major’s operating cash flow increased 59% from the year-earlier level to $12.1 billion.

Buyback Plans: As part of the company’s $25 billion buyback program during the period 2018-2020, Shell will repurchase $2.5 billion worth of shares up to Jan 28 in the second installment.

Zacks Rank: Currently, Royal Dutch Shell carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).