Exxon Profits Shoot Up 17%, But Still Miss Target

Exxon Mobil’s profits jumped 17% in the first quarter, but still fell short of expectations, Bloomberg reports. Exxon’s number, which was held back by drops in productions and refinery profit margins, looks shabby compared to the world’s other two largest oil companies, which posted 25% and 63% gains respectively. “Exxon is having trouble raising production, and that's not a good sign,” said one money manager.

The production problems prevented the company from taking advantage of record prices. Refining profits were cut nearly in half. Revenue rose 34% to $116.9 billion, but even that disappointed investors, falling nearly $2.6 billion short of analyst estimates. Exxon fell 2.5% in pre-market trading to $90.77. (More ExxonMobil stories.)