Oil giants notch stunning profits as gas prices soar — now they’re paying investors

Double take on the gas-price sign... #PumpAnxiety is real. Gas prices are up 50% from a year ago and oil is near a seven-year high. That's hurting your wallet but helping energy giants. Last quarter, Exxon's sales climbed over 80% from a year ago, to a slick $85B. Annual profit hit $23B, the highest since 2014. Last week Chevron also reported its highest yearly profit since 2014. Shell and BP report this week.

• Exx-on: Exxon shares climbed 5% yesterday to their highest level since April 2019.
• Exx-off: Exxon paid $20B in debt last year, bringing its IOUs to pre-Covid levels.
• Houst-on: Exxon is moving its HQ to Houston as part of a reorg that it says will yield $6B in cost savings.

Shareholders get $$$... Instead of simply reinvesting their cash into new oil projects, gas giants are paying it forward to investors. Public companies can do that in two key ways: through dividends (literally giving investors $$) and share buybacks (which can boost share prices by reducing available shares).

• Chevron, whose shares hit a record last week, bumped its dividend payout by 6% to $1.42/share and said it’ll buy back up to $5B of its own stock this year.
• Exxon said it would start buying back its stock this quarter and expected to boost its dividend this year. Shares are up 78% over the past year.