(This is “The Best Stocks in the Market,” brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — Some stocks move quickly, change direction frequently, go back and forth, go from uptrend to downtrend, then back to uptrend again. Other stocks behave like — pardon the analogy — like oil tankers. These don’t change course much and can be difficult to turn around. But once that happens, you want to be on the right side of the deal. The oil tanker I want to talk about today is ExxonMobil (XOM). Last week, it appeared on our list of the best stocks in the market. This was likely done just before a major breakout of long-term resistance. When Exxon reported its third-quarter results on Oct. 31, management told shareholders it reached a new record for upstream production at 4.8 million barrels per day, including 1.8 billion barrels from the Permian and 700,000 barrels from Guyana. The company also emphasized strong shareholder returns, with $9.4 billion in capital returned to shareholders, including $4.2 billion in dividends and $5.1 billion in share repurchases. They announced a fourth quarter dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase of 4%. Equally important is the fact that we were able to achieve cost savings. That’s all they can do, given the relative decline in energy prices around the world. Exxon can’t control the price of a barrel of oil any more than you or I can control the weather this weekend. Management has made steady progress on costs, which means increased revenue in the next commodity price bull market. The company has achieved $14 billion in cumulative structural cost savings since 2019, of which $2.2 billion will be eliminated in 2025. Let me take a closer look at the graph as Sean explains a little more about what’s going on at the company. Stock to watch: Exxon Mobil (XOM) Date posted: November 7, 2025 1-year price chart: Sean — XOM’s earnings peaked in 2022, an exceptional year for oil companies. Third quarter 2022 revenue reached $19.7 billion. Since then, revenue has remained steady in the range of $7 billion to $9 billion per quarter. In its most recent quarter, XOM reported net income of approximately $7.8 billion, bringing its year-to-date total profit to $22.3 billion, down from $26.1 billion a year earlier due to lower oil prices and higher costs. That growth slowdown is changing. There are 10 major projects scheduled for completion in 2025 that are expected to contribute more than $3 billion to revenue at constant prices and margins. Exxon is also planning a new growth engine: liquefied natural gas. The United States is currently the largest LNG producer and is poised to grow further. The Golden Pass LNG export terminal in Texas is owned by both XOM and Qatar Energy. According to the company, the plant is scheduled to begin operations at the end of 2025 and will have an annual production capacity of more than 18 million tons when fully operational. This project and others are expected to form the “foundation” of the company’s 2030 revenue and cash flow plans, XOM’s CEO said in its latest earnings call. We have discussed the improvements that oil and gas companies are making in terms of production costs. The goal used to be to produce as much oil as possible at all costs. Nowadays, companies are required to produce the maximum amount of oil at the lowest cost and return the cost savings to shareholders. While historical reinvestment rates averaged 70% from 2010 to 2019, current investment levels are approximately 45-55% of cash flow and are expected to decrease further to the 35% range by 2030. XOM is more efficient in deploying capital and just in time for a breakout. Risk Management Josh — Exxon’s fundamentals may be bottoming out just as its price is sailing into a new range. Currently trading around $118, we may not get confirmation of a true breakout until the $125 area (the resistance we hear) is tested. But that would be a big trigger for a prolonged rally after three years of consolidation. For now, traders should hold off until an actual breakout, given that the stock has hit a ceiling without breaking out at this level multiple times. However, investors can anticipate a breakout and predict it well in advance. Because if this oil tanker starts moving, we may not have another chance. The dividend yield and low expectations cushion the potential downside. Disclosure: (none) All opinions expressed by CNBC Pro contributors are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, its parent or affiliate companies, and may have been previously disseminated on television, radio, the Internet, or another medium. 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