re: When will XOM recover?

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They'll probably cut outstanding shares in an effort to boost revenues

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Huh? How does that work?

quote:

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They'll probably cut outstanding shares in an effort to boost revenues

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I think you mean Earnings per Share, instead of revenue. Revenue is unaffected by number of shares, but buybacks would increase earnings PER share, as the same revenue is spread over fewer shares.

Unfortunately, they're already borrowing money to continue dividends, despite declining net income. XOM had free cash flow of about ~$9.7B and borrowed another $12.5B to pay dividends last quarter.

Assuming similar revenue going forward, the only way to buyback shares is to borrow more money to do so or take a charge against earnings for the buyback, on top of money they're borrowing to continue dividends.