For ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) shareholders much of the current trading has felt decidedly lackluster. Upon the conclusion of the recent earnings season, most commentators agreed that neither it nor its Anglo-Dutch rival Shell (LON:RDSA) managed to captivate the market’s imagination.
Instead, that accolade went to BP (LON:BP) with its quadrupling of quarterly profits and a $10.5 billion signature acquisition of U.S. shale assets. Furthermore, an examination of annualized financials suggests Shell’s revenue, at $305.2 billion in 2017, capped that of ExxonMobil at $237.1 billion by some distance, even though the latter’s profits and market capitalization exceed that of its rival.