Why ConocoPhillips Stock Zoomed Higher on Thursday

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) stock closed Wednesday in positive territory. On the back of a solid quarterly earnings beat, investors pushed it to a 1.4% gain, good enough to top the 0.6% bump of the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC).

Fundamental gains and a pair of beats

For its first quarter of this year, ConocoPhillips booked just over $17.1 billion in revenue, well up from the nearly $14.5 billion in the same period of 2024. Non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) adjusted net income also headed north, rising to just under $2.7 billion ($2.09 per share) from the year-ago profit of $2.4 billion.

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ConocoPhillips said its bottom-line rise was attributable to an increase in volume; however, that was offset to a degree by higher accounting expenses such as depreciation. As has been a theme throughout the oil industry lately, lower prices also had a dampening effect.

Still, it managed to top the average analyst estimates for both adjusted net income and revenue, which were $1.98 per share and $16.5 billion, respectively.

In other developments, ConocoPhillips also declared its upcoming quarterly dividend payment, which matches its two predecessors at $0.78 per share. This will be handed out on June 2 to shareholders of record as of May 19. The dividend yields 3.5%.

It also announced the retirement of CFO Bill Bullock, who will be replaced by current senior vice president of strategy, commercial, sustainability, and technology Andy O'Brien, effective June 1.

Guidance updated

ConocoPhillips also revised several full-year guidance items, notably its estimates for capital expenditures.

The company now believes these will amount to $12.3 billion to $12.6 billion across the year, down from its previous forecast of around $12.9 billion. Adjusted operating costs for the period are now anticipated to reach $10.7 billion to $10.9 billion; previous guidance was $10.9 billion to $11.1 billion.

Oil is a cyclical industry, and we're currently on a downswing, with weakened prices putting the squeeze on profitability. Considering that, ConocoPhillips did fairly well in the quarter, and its latest guidance portends good results in the proximate future.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.