The largest U.S. oil company turned in record annual earnings of $55.7 billion for 2022 in its quarterly earnings Tuesday, outpacing big banks, tech giants and vaccine makers. Among companies that have reported fourth-quarter earnings, only Apple Inc. AAPL 0.28%increase; green up pointing triangle and Microsoft Corp. MSFT 1.30%increase; green up pointing triangle have surpassed Exxon’s profit in fiscal 2022 so far, and only Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOG 1.00%increase; green up pointing triangle is projected to post a higher return, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

Exxon’s bounty marks a turnaround after it lost a historic proxy fight in 2021 to investment firm Engine No. 1, which excoriated Exxon’s finances and argued it had no long-term strategy. An oil-market collapse in 2020 led to Exxon’s first annual loss in at least four decades, of more than $22 billion. It was booted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average that year, after nearly a century in the index, with its shares falling as much as 55%.

Exxon Vaults to Record Annual Profit of $55.7 Billion – WSJ