Charlie Garcia
Founder & Managing Partner of R360, Entrepreneur/Author, Veteran
Exxon's stock is pricing the screen, not its sworn 8-K disclosure that Q2 earnings will be about $5 billion above Q1. The July 7 filing attributes $3.5-3.9 billion to higher crude and $3.3-4.1 billion to refining and chemicals, less about $1 billion of war disruption. Yet Exxon closed at $145.09, ten dollars below its war peak. x.com x.comÂ
Shell's stronger refining profits and larger buyback support the view that its breakout holds. Q3 adjusted earnings reached $10.8 billion versus $9.9 billion expected, as refining margins hit a record $42 a barrel; the three-month buyback rises from $3 billion to $5 billion. Those margins will not last forever. x.comÂ
Oil majors such as Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron deserve their multiples because they have consistently generated 10%+ returns across complete energy cycles. They are integrated, now diversified, and control a key commodity for decades ahead. Investors will do fine if they hold for the long term. x.comÂ
Exxon Mobil looks set for a pullback despite its uptrend, as it sits where it formed a shooting star before. It is printing a daily spinning top, and a one-minute hanging man was followed by a sweep of highs and rejection on high volume. Options flow showed $8M in December 145 puts and $12M of 180 calls sold. x.comÂ
Exxon Mobil and Chevron are among the highest-quality energy stocks and are long-term holdings, so a quarterly earnings decline is just noise while the thesis is intact. In cyclicals like energy, the approach is to buy only at the deepest cycle lows, never chase, and hold until the thesis permanently breaks. x.comÂ
ConocoPhillips looks cheap against its sales. At 5x mid-cycle sales, give or take 12%, fair value is $224.66-$285.93, leaving the $127.53 price 43% below the low end; it would be expensive only above $193. The view uses reported earnings and revenue estimates only, without fundamental work. x.comÂ
Chevron and Exxon Mobil face capital strain after their hedging blew up. They may need to raise capital through sales or borrowing if they cannot cut costs, and are struggling to keep enough capital to sustain their dividend floor. x.comÂ
Exxon Mobil and other critical names that embrace every theme should go vertical, even though hard assets, especially energy, sit in the fog of war and no one wants to chase them. Timing hinges on a late-summer pivot: @radigancarter sees markets front-running it, and winners and losers should be sorted ahead of it. In that shift, duration is torched but bifurcates between abundance and scarcity, convexity is mispriced and beta looks dangerous. x.comÂ
Petrobras looks cheap against its earnings at 6x forward earnings, versus the roughly 14x oil and gas producers usually get. Applying 14x to next year's estimated $4.14 a share gives a fair range of about $51 to $65, leaving the stock 52% below the low end. The view rests on valuation levels from reported earnings and revenue estimates only, not fundamental work. x.comÂ
Oil company stocks are a steadier way to play high oil than crude itself. Crude swings wildly on every headline, while producers' earnings benefit as long as prices stay elevated, even without a further surge. Chevron is the best pick: it gains from higher oil prices and from Venezuelan production, having been the only oil major still operating there before Maduro's capture. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF is also a good choice, steadier than crude. x.com x.comÂ
With crack spreads this high, the market should realize how undervalued Delek US Holdings was and still is, despite skepticism last year at $11. Diesel cracks hit a record $102, per a post the author replies to. x.comÂ
