Exxon Mobil (XOM  ) shares were trading 6% higher following the company's better-than-expected Q3 earnings report which showed a beat on the bottom line but a slight miss on the top line. Despite the revenue miss, it was a strong quarter across the board and was the most profitable in history.

Like other energy stocks, Exxon Mobil has defied the market's overall bearish trend in 2022 and is up 86% YTD. It's also enjoyed a nice rally in recent weeks as it's up 36% since late September. Despite its strong performance, the company should also appeal to value investors with its forward P/E ratio of 10.4 and 3.3% dividend yield.

Inside the Numbers

In Q3, Exxon Mobil reported $4.45 per share in earnings which was a 140% increase from last year and above analysts' consensus expectations of $3.80 per share. Revenue was up by 42% to reach $112.1 billion which was above expectations of $104.6 billion.

In total, the company earned $18.7 billion in the quarter which was 6% above last quarter's record.

The company's total capital expenditures for the quarter came out to $5.7 billion which was slightly above expectations of $5 billion and 72% higher than last year. In total, the company has spent $15.2 billion on capex which is in line with its full-year guidance of $21 billion to $24 billion. Overall, the company produced 3.7 million barrels per day of oil equivalent products. This was about 50,000 barrels per day higher than last quarter.

The company also increased its quarterly payout by $0.03 to reach $0.91 per share. Overall, the company plans to spend about $10 billion in dividends and another $20 billion in buybacks. The company has drawn some criticism as it's returning almost twice as much cash to shareholders as it's spending in capex.

In early October, Exxon revealed that Q3 was shaping up to be another strong quarter due to strength in natural gas prices and refining margins. Throughout the quarter, gasoline and natural gas prices declined which means Q4 should be slightly softer than Q3.