Wow!

[Hoo'sdave]

ExxonMobil (XOM, news, msgs) reported the biggest quarterly profit ever from a U.S. company this morning. The oil giant said it earned a whopping $14.83 billion in the third quarter, a 58% increase from the $9.41 billion the company earned in the same period last year. On a per-share basis, ExxonMobil earned $2.86, up from $1.70 and far better than the consensus estimate of $2.39 per share.

 

[highslice]

I think the 4th quarter will be very disappointing by comparison...

 

[Sundancer]

I'm sure they are holding their breath right now like every other company. Once the election is over, they will determine their next move based on who takes over in January. That gives them close to two months to "move" expenses into the correct quarter. I'd be taking all my profits right now too!

 

[Four Suns]

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[comsnark]

I'm sure they are holding their breath right now like every other company. Once the election is over, they will determine their next move based on who takes over in January. That gives them close to two months to "move" expenses into the correct quarter. I'd be taking all my profits right now too!

Pfft. Taxes are not a factor for my company at the moment. (we are an industrial, not a financial, company)

What is making our upper management sweat right now are the basic economic factors such as energy prices, currency fluctuation, and commodity prices. These are affecting potential future projects as well as projects already in execution.

Certain key policy decisions are typically made on an annual basis with quartely "updates" (i.e. cost factors for estimating purposes). Starting August, many key policy decisions have been moved to a monthly re-evaluation timetable. Oil is not the only commodity that is moving around unpredictably at the moment.

When -or if- tax changes come. . then decisions will be made. Right now, our management really does have more important things to worry about.

 

[comsnark]

Oh. . . .and we HAVE moved expenses into the last quarter. Not because of Presidential politics, but rather because of Hurricanes (we had some impact from Gustav and Ike) and a general crumbling of the economy basically tanked our earnings in the short term. It will make for (hopefully) a great come back in 12 months.