Have you been eager to see how Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS-A - Free Report) – Europe’s largest oil company – performed in Q3 in comparison with the market expectations? Let’s quickly scan through the key facts from this Hague, Netherlands-based behemoth’s earnings release this morning:

About Royal Dutch Shell: Royal Dutch Shell owns one of the largest integrated oil and gas businesses in the world. The group has operations all over the world and is involved in various activities related to oil and natural gas, chemicals, power generation, renewable energy resources, and other energy related businesses. Royal Dutch Shell divides its operations into four major segments: Upstream, Downstream, Integrated Gas and Corporate.

In February 2016, Shell acquired UK’s third-largest energy player BG Group for a total consideration of $50 billion.

Zacks Rank & Surprise History: Currently, Royal Dutch Shell has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Coming to earnings surprise history, the blue-chip company has a mixed record: its beaten estimates in two of the last four quarters.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC Price and EPS Surprise

Royal Dutch Shell PLC Price and EPS Surprise | Royal Dutch Shell PLC Quote

We have highlighted some of the key details from the just-released announcement below:

Profits Beat: Earnings per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items – the market’s preferred measure) came in at $1.00, breezing past the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents and the year-ago profit of 70 cents.

Revenue Improves from Last Year: Revenues of $77,733 million were 23.5% above the third-quarter 2016 sales of $62,938 million.

Key Stats: Upstream segment recorded a profit of $562 million (excluding items) during the quarter, soaring from the paltry $4 million (adjusted) achieved in the year-ago period. Shell’s upstream volumes averaged 2,656 thousand oil-equivalent barrels per day (MBOE/d), 1% lower than the year-ago period. The group’s worldwide realized liquids prices were 16.4% above the year-earlier levels while natural gas prices were up 21.3%.

In the downstream segment – that focuses on refining, marketing and retailing – the Anglo-Dutch super-major reported adjusted income of $2,668 million, 28.4% more than the $2,078 million earned in the year-ago period.

The Integrated Gas unit reported adjusted income of $1,282 million, a 37.7% improvement from the $931 million in July-September quarter of 2016.

However, the oil major’s operating cash flow fell to $7,582 million, down 11% from a year earlier.

Share Performance: Royal Dutch Shell has gained 15.5% of its value during the third quarter, outperforming the 10.8% rally of the industry it belongs to.