Earnings and Cash Flow Goals: ExxonMobil aims to increase its annual earnings by $20 billion and cash flow by $30 billion by 2030, building on a strong performance in 2022 where it earned $33.7 billion and generated $55 billion in cash flow.
Growth Rates: The company's targets imply compound annual growth rates of 10% for earnings and 8% for cash flow from 2024 levels.
Investment Plans
Cumulative Investment: Exxon plans to invest a total of $140 billion in major growth projects, including its Permian Basin development.
Lower-Carbon Investments: Out of the total investment, up to $30 billion will be directed towards lower-carbon initiatives such as hydrogen, lithium, and carbon capture and storage.
Cost Savings and Cash Generation
Cost Reduction Strategy: Exxon expects to achieve an additional $7 billion in annual structural cost savings compared to the third quarter of the previous year.
Surplus Cash Generation: The strategy is projected to generate $165 billion in cumulative surplus cash over the plan period, enabling continued dividend increases and stock repurchases.
Shareholder Returns
Dividend and Buyback History: Exxon has a strong track record of returning cash to shareholders, having returned $36 billion through dividends and buybacks last year, ranking fifth among S&P 500 companies.
Future Buyback Plans: The company plans to repurchase $20 billion of its stock annually in 2025 and 2026, contingent on favorable market conditions.
Investment Considerations
Analyst Recommendations: Despite Exxon's ambitious plans, it was not included in the Motley Fool Stock Advisor's list of the top 10 stocks to buy, which historically have provided significant returns.
Performance Comparison: The Stock Advisor's average return is 1,068%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's 185% return, highlighting the potential for high returns in selected stocks.
XOM
$114.68+Infinity%1D
Analyst Views on XOM
Wall Street analysts forecast XOM stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for XOM is 131.08 USD with a low forecast of 115.00 USD and a high forecast of 156.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
15 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast XOM stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for XOM is 131.08 USD with a low forecast of 115.00 USD and a high forecast of 156.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
11 Buy
4 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 117.760
Low
115.00
Averages
131.08
High
156.00
Current: 117.760
Low
115.00
Averages
131.08
High
156.00
TD Cowen
Jason Gabelman
Buy
maintain
$128 -> $135
2025-12-12
New
Reason
TD Cowen
Jason Gabelman
Price Target
$128 -> $135
2025-12-12
New
maintain
Buy
Reason
TD Cowen analyst Jason Gabelman raised the firm's price target on Exxon Mobil to $135 from $128 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm noted the company increased its forecast earnings and CFO growth to 2030 by $5B driven by higher Permian production from better recovery rates and requiring no capex.
Mizuho
Neutral
maintain
$129 -> $132
2025-12-12
New
Reason
Mizuho
Price Target
$129 -> $132
2025-12-12
New
maintain
Neutral
Reason
Mizuho raised the firm's price target on Exxon Mobil to $132 from $129 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm adjusted ratings and targets in the exploration and production group as part of its 2026 outlook. While sentiment for U.S. oil and gas names is negative on oil market oversupply and high gas storage, there is "underappreciated value" in the group, particularly in exploration and production on longer-term fundamentals that could start becoming realized in 2026, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Mizuho suggests a reallocation of risk toward oil E&Ps with a selective bias in gas stocks. It turned more neutral on refining.
Wells Fargo
NULL
to
Overweight
maintain
$156 -> $158
2025-12-11
Reason
Wells Fargo
Price Target
$156 -> $158
2025-12-11
maintain
NULL
to
Overweight
Reason
Wells Fargo raised the firm's price target on Exxon Mobil to $158 from $156 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares after the company held a virtual Corporate Plan Update and IR hosted a small group follow-up call. Exxon announced a $5B increase to Upstream earnings power at constant commodity prices by 2030, and increased structural cost savings by $2B to $20B in aggregate. 2026 production and capex guidance was in line with Wells' model, but 60% of Upstream profitability increase comes from the Permian, the firm notes.
BofA
Neutral
downgrade
$119 -> $118
2025-12-11
Reason
BofA
Price Target
$119 -> $118
2025-12-11
downgrade
Neutral
Reason
BofA lowered the firm's price target on Exxon Mobil to $118 from $119 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares.
About XOM
Exxon Mobil Corporation is an energy provider and chemical manufacturer. The Company’s principal business involves exploration for, and production of, crude oil and natural gas; the manufacture, trade, transport and sale of crude oil, natural gas, petroleum products, petrochemicals and a wide variety of specialty products; and pursuit of lower-emission and other new business opportunities, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, lower-emission fuels, Proxxima systems, carbon materials, and lithium. Its Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. The Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments manufacture and sell petroleum products and petrochemicals. Energy Products segment includes fuels, aromatics, and catalysts and licensing. Chemical Products segment consists of olefins, polyolefins, and intermediates. Specialty Products segment includes finished lubricants, basestocks and waxes, synthetics, and elastomers and resins.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.