ExxonMobil’s market value tops Tesla’s on Guyana, Permian production success

(Bloomberg) – Exxon Mobil Corp. surpassed Tesla Inc. in market value for the first time in more than a year after the electric vehicle maker’s sales slowed and investors bet on consumers’ reluctance to ditch gas-powered cars.

Tesla is down 41% in a punishing start to the year, marked by renewed growth worries, widespread job cuts and its first year-over-year sales drop since the early days of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Exxon has finally arrested a decade-long production decline with fast-growing oil developments in Guyana and the Permian basin, maximizing the benefit of crude’s 16% gain this year.

The reversal shows how the path to electrifying road transport has turned out to be more challenging than many thought. Ford Motor Co. and Hertz Global Holdings Inc. are among companies rethinking their big bets on electric vehicles as market penetration slows due to cost and the difficulty of charging in public. Exxon’s ascent, buoyed by record worldwide oil demand, also reflects a fading ESG movement that reduced the oil and gas industry’s valuations during the pandemic.