Occidental Petroleum (OXY) reported $6.84 billion in revenue for the quarter ended December 2024, representing a year-over-year decline of 9.2%. EPS of $0.80 for the same period compares to $0.74 a year ago.

The reported revenue represents a surprise of -4.25% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.14 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $0.67, the EPS surprise was +19.40%.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how Occidental performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

• Worldwide Sales - Total Continuing Operations Production Per Day: 1463 millions of barrels of oil equivalent versus 1452.76 millions of barrels of oil equivalent estimated by eight analysts on average.
• Net Production Volumes Per Day By Commodity - Natural Gas - Total Worldwide: 2264 millions of cubic feet versus 2207.23 millions of cubic feet estimated by six analysts on average.
• Average Realized Prices - Natural Gas - Total Worldwide: $1.41 per thousand cubic feet versus $1.41 per thousand cubic feet estimated by six analysts on average.
• Net Production Volumes Per Day By Commodity - Oil - Total Worldwide: 736 millions of barrels of oil versus 737.21 millions of barrels of oil estimated by six analysts on average.
• Revenue- Oil & Gas - United States: $4.75 billion compared to the $4.80 billion average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of +7.4% year over year.
• Revenue- Oil & Gas - International: $871 million compared to the $878.48 million average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of -12.7% year over year.
• Revenue- Oil - International: $681 million compared to the $707.39 million average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of -15.1% year over year.
• Revenue- Oil - United States: $4.04 billion versus the two-analyst average estimate of $4.06 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +6.3%.
• Net sales- Oil and gas: $5.62 billion versus $5.69 billion estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +3.7% change.
• Net sales- Chemical: $1.22 billion compared to the $1.20 billion average estimate based on four analysts. The reported number represents a change of -1.2% year over year.
• Net sales- Midstream & marketing: $141 million versus $354.03 million estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -77.7% change.
• Net sales- Eliminations: -$222 million versus the four-analyst average estimate of -$176.09 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +91.4%.

View all Key Company Metrics for Occidental here>>>

Shares of Occidental have returned -7.5% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +4.7% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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