Chevron Surges Past Estimates
04/27/07 - 02:33 PM EDT
Chuck Marvin
Updated from 9:35 a.m. EDT
Chevron (CVX Quote - Cramer on CVX - Stock Picks) reported that its first-quarter earnings jumped 18% over the same period of 2006, mostly because of higher profits in its refining business. The company had $4.7 billion in net income during the quarter, or $2.18 a share. The company earned $4 billion, or $1.80 a share, during the same quarter one year ago. Results for the first three months of the year included a $700 million gain, or 32 cents a share, from the sale of Chevron's minority interest in a refinery in the Netherlands. Excluding that item, Chevron's adjusted profit of $1.86 handedly beat out analysts' $1.67 consensus estimate. Total revenue slipped to $48.23 billion from $54.62 billion, which Chevron attributed in part to an accounting rule change. At the same time, the company was hit by a decline in crude and natural gas prices. Shares of Chevron slipped 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $78.04 following the report. Chevron's global downstream refining and marketing businesses made $923 million in profits in the first quarter of 2007, not counting earnings from the refinery sale. This was a 58% gain over the $580 million made a year ago. The firm reported that its sales of branded gasoline in the U.S. jumped 5% since the fourth quarter of 2006, which caught some analysts by surprise, because the near-term contract for reformulated gasoline traded in New York has risen 27% since the start of the year.
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