Exxon Mobil's stock rallies after profit and free cash flow beat expectations, while revenue fell well short

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, -0.41% rallied 1.9% in premarket trading Friday, after the oil and gas giant reported fourth-quarter profit and free cash flow that beat expectations even as revenue fell well short. Net income dropped to $7.63 billion, or$1.91 a share, from $12.75 billion, or$3.09 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as a $2 billion impairment resulting from regulatory obstacles in California, adjusted earnings per share of$2.48 beat the FactSet consensus ...