ExxonMobil reported quarterly earnings and revenue on Thursday that topped analysts' predictions though profit dropped from the previous year.
Robert F. Bukaty
The gas and oil giant's shares edged higher in light trading efore the opening bell, following the news. (Click here to get real-time quotes for Exxon.)
Earnings excluding items fell to $2.09 per share from $2.13 a share in the year-earlier period.
Wall Street had expected Exxon to report earnings excluding items of $1.95 a share on $112.4 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.
The world's largest publicly traded oil company showed a 7.5 percent drop in oil and natural gas production and said weaker commodity prices took a toll.
The Irving, Texas, company said its third-quarter earnings fell to $9.57 billion, from $10.33 billion a year earlier.
Oil and gas output declined 7.5 percent to 3.96 million barrels oil equivalent per day, Exxon said.
The company said it bought back 58 million shares of its own stock in the third quarter for $5.1 billion.
—Reuters contributed to this report.