Devon Shares Soar on Profit News (Update)

Updated from 12:56 p.m.

Shares of oil and gas producer Devon Energy(DVN Quote) jumped 9% Wednesday after its first-quarter results topped estimates and the Energy Department released encouraging crude-oil inventory data.

In its earnings announcement before the bell Wednesday, Devon said weakening prices during the quarter more than offset a 7% spike in oil and gas production. Still, cutbacks in expenses compared with a year ago helped the company widen its profit margins.

Adjusted earnings, which excluded $4.2 billion in write-downs on its oil and gas properties, came in at $216 million, or 48 cents a share, well ahead of the 28-cent profit analysts were expecting on an EPS basis, according to Thomson Reuters. ...