Oil giant Exxon on Friday announced quarterly earnings that fell more than 50%, missing Wall Street expectations and delivering its worst quarterly performance in six years.
The problem, which has impacted the entire oil industry in recent months, was sliding oil prices.
Exxon (XOM), the second-largest company of any kind in the U.S., generated net income of $4.19 billion, or a $1 per share. That’s less than half of the $8.78 billion, or $2.05 per share, that it delivered in the second quarter of 2014. Analysts were expecting more than 10 cents more per share.
As a result of the weak earnings, Exxon’s stock fell more than 3% in morning trading.
Exxon has been trying to cut its costs to combat the slide in oil prices. In a release Exxon’s CEO Rex Tillerson said the results reflected the impacts of “the current commodity price environment,” as well as the company’s “discipline in capital and expense management.”