, against an 8% rise for the overall S&P 500 . Oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron are up roughly 29% and 27% for the month, respectively, with oilfield services firm Halliburton jumping 47%.
S&P 500 energy companies are on pace to have increased earnings by 135% in the third quarter from the year-earlier period, according to Refinitiv IBES. Overall S&P 500 earnings are expected to have climbed just 4%. Indeed, excluding energy’s contribution, S&P 500 earnings are set to have declined 3.5% in the quarter, according to IBES.
By contrast last week, companies that have heavy weights in stock indexes, including Amazon, Google parent Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta Platforms posted results that soundly disappointed investors. “If money does follow earnings, then it makes sense at least that the sector continues to do well,” Nolte said.
Despite their increase this year, oil prices are well off their highs from earlier in 2022, and another jolt up could drive shares of the companies even further, Nolte said.