Marathon Oil (MRO) Tops Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

Core Insights - Marathon Oil reported quarterly earnings of $0.64 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.61 per share, but down from $0.77 per share a year ago, indicating an earnings surprise of 4.92% [1] - The company generated revenues of $1.79 billion for the quarter ended September 2024, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.83%, although this is a slight decrease from $1.81 billion in the same quarter last year [2] - Marathon Oil has outperformed consensus EPS estimates three times over the last four quarters, but the stock has underperformed the S&P 500, gaining about 14.2% year-to-date compared to the S&P 500's 21.2% [3][4] Earnings Outlook - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $0.54 on revenues of $1.64 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $2.37 on revenues of $6.58 billion [7] - The trend of estimate revisions for Marathon Oil has been unfavorable, leading to a Zacks Rank 4 (Sell), suggesting expected underperformance in the near future [6] Industry Context - The Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States industry is currently ranked in the bottom 12% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating a challenging environment for stocks in this sector [8] - Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which can impact investor sentiment and stock performance [5]