Berkshire Hathaway exits its position in ExxonMobil
Berkshire Hathaway's 4Q14 portfolio highlights (Part 8 of 9)
Berkshire Hathaway and ExxonMobil
Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in its fourth-quarter 13F filing that it had exited its position in ExxonMobil (XOM) by selling its remaining stake of about 41.1 million shares. The position had accounted for 1.20% of the fund’s portfolio during the third quarter.
About ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation (or ExxonMobil) engages in petroleum refinement, petrochemical manufacturing, the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, and the transportation and sale of crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products.
Throughout its history, ExxonMobil has been among the largest publicly traded companies. Its market capitalization of roughly $380 billion is second only to that of tech giant Apple (AAPL), whose current market cap is about $780 billion.
ExxonMobil has leadership positions in petroleum refining and petrochemical manufacturing. Its operations fall into three segments:
Upstream
Downstream
Petrochemicals
From a geographic standpoint, XOM’s operations are centered in the following regions:
United States
Canada and South America
Europe, Africa, and Asia
Australia and Oceania
XOM is a component of the the Energy Select SPDR ETF (XLE), making up 17.4% of the ETF.
Fourth-quarter earnings
In 4Q14, ExxonMobil’s revenues declined 21% to $87.3 billion from $110.9 billion in 4Q13. The lower crude oil price environment affected the 4Q14 revenues of XOM’s peers as well. Chevron (CVX) experienced a revenue decrease of 19%, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B) witnessed a 15.4% drop in revenues, and the revenues of Hess Corporation (HES) fell 51%.
Although ExxonMobil’s net income decreased by about 21% YoY (or year-over-year) to $6.6 billion, the company’s net income margin remained relatively steady at 7.5%. On a per-share basis, adjusted earnings dropped by approximately 18% to $1.56, but they managed to beat consensus estimates by a comfortable 17% in the fourth quarter.
For a more comprehensive review of ExxonMobil’s performance, read ExxonMobil: Drilling down into quarterly earnings.
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