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How ExxonMobil's Long-Term Strategy Offers Stability Amid Volatility

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Key Takeaways

  • XOM is initiating 10 energy projects this year across oil, gas, chemicals and low-carbon solutions.
  • The China chemical plant, built efficiently, avoids tariffs and supplies directly to a key market.
  • XOM aims to grow earnings via innovation, scale and low-cost, high-demand strategic investments.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM - Free Report) is kick-starting 10 large energy projects, spanning oil, gas, chemicals and low-carbon solutions this year. The large integrated energy player has estimated that the projects will add more than $3 billion in earnings by 2026, significantly enhancing its bottom line. The developments reflect XOM’s strong focus on generating money for the long term while investing in high-quality projects.

Among the key projects, XOM’s new chemical plant in China is worth mentioning. The integrated energy giant touted it as the most complex project to date, which was built faster and cheaper than expected, and will be capable of supplying valuable chemical products to the Chinese market directly. Importantly, since the plant is located within the country, the facility will be free from tariffs and trade barriers.  Another key highlight is ExxonMobil’s initiatives in the United States, particularly its expansion of advanced plastic recycling operations in Baytown, TX.   

The developments reflect XOM’s plan to grow steadily through innovations, technology and scale. Thus, by investing and building in areas with high demand and low cost, the energy major will be capable of generating handsome earnings even when the business environment turns tough.

Advantageous Projects of BP & CVX

BP plc (BP - Free Report) and Chevron Corporation (CVX - Free Report) are two other integrated energy giants with several advantageous projects.

On the first-quarter 2025 earnings call, BP mentioned the commencement of three key oil and gas projects — one in Trinidad (Cypre), another in Egypt (Raven infill) and a third off the coast of Mauritania and Senegal (GTA project). BP expects the projects to produce a combined total of 100,000 barrels of oil and gas per day. Notably, these advancements are part of BP’s broader program of increasing its total oil and gas output by 250,000 barrels per day by the year 2027.

Coming to Chevron’s story, the energy major’s Ballymore oil field in the Gulf of Mexico has commenced pumping oil. CVX added that the project will eventually add 300,000 barrels per day. Moreover, Chevron has a key natural gas project located off the coast of Cyprus.

XOM’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of XOM have gained 1.6% over the past year, outpacing the 2% decline of the composite stocks belonging to the industry.

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From a valuation standpoint, XOM trades at a trailing 12-month enterprise value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) of 6.92X. This is above the broader industry average of 4.19X.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for XOM’s 2025 earnings hasn’t been revised over the past seven days.

Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

XOM stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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