Chevron swings to loss as coronavirus saps demand, oil prices fall

Chevron Corp. said Friday it had a net loss of $207 million, or 12 cents a share, in the third quarter, after posting income of $2.6 billion, or $1.36 a share, in the year-earlier period, hurt by low oil prices and weakened demand during the pandemic. The energy giant said it had adjusted per-share earnings of 11 cents, better than the FactSet consensus for a loss of 26 cents. Revenue came to $24.451 billion, down from $36.116 billion a year ago, and below the $25.837 billion FactSet consensus. "Third quarter results were down from a year ago, primarily due to lower commodity prices and margins resulting from the impact of COVID-19," said Chief Executive Michael K. Wirth in a statement. "The world's economy continues to operate below pre-pandemic levels, impacting demand for our products which are closely linked to economic activity." The company's U.S. upstream earnings fell to $116 million from $727 million. The company's average sales price per barrel of crude oil fell to $31 from $47 a year ago. U.S. downstream operations posted earnings of $141 million, down from $389 million a year ago. Shares were up 0.6% premarket but have fallen 43% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 [s:spx] has gained 2.5%.

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