Exxon Mobil Broke its Own Record in Profit

Exxon Mobil broke its own record for the highest-ever quarterly profit for a U.S. company on Thursday, but it was lower than Wall Street expected largely due to lost output from Venezuela and Nigeria and lower yields from some oil fields, Reuters reports.

The average price of a barrel of oil was slightly less than $125 in the quarter, nearly double last year, which also increased earnings reported by three of Europe's largest oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell , Eni and Repsol .

Exxon's second-quarter net income rose 14 percent to $11.68 billion, or $2.22 a share, in the quarter.

However, after excluding one-time items, Exxon earned $2.27 a share, more than 10 percent below analysts' expectations, according to Reuters Estimates. The miss led to a 4.7 percent slide in Exxon's shares, a major factor in a decline in U.S. stocks on Thursday.