An Earnings Beat: Europe’s largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS-A - Free Report) reported earnings per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items – the market’s preferred measure) of $1.28, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.24 and the year-ago profit of 92 cents. Higher realized commodity prices led to the outperformance.

Estimate Revision Trend & Surprise History: The stock had seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings being revised 14.8% upward over the last 30 days.

Coming to earnings surprise history, the blue-chip company has a good record: its beaten estimates in three of the last four quarters, as shown in the chart below.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC Price and EPS Surprise

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

Revenues: Revenues of $91,114 million were 24.3% above the first-quarter 2017 sales of $73,311 million and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $81,020 million.

Key Stats: Upstream segment recorded a profit of $1,551 million (excluding items) during the quarter, soaring from the paltry $540 million (adjusted) achieved in the year-ago period. Shell’s upstream volumes averaged 2,867 thousand oil-equivalent barrels per day (MBOE/d), 5% lower than the year-ago period. At $60.66 per barrel, the group’s worldwide realized liquids prices were 25% above the year-earlier levels while natural gas prices were up 13%.

In the downstream segment – that focuses on refining, marketing and retailing – the Anglo-Dutch super-major reported adjusted income of $1,687 million, 32.2% less than the $2,489 million earned in the year-ago period.

The Integrated Gas unit reported adjusted income of $2,439 million, more than doubling from the $1,181 million in January-March quarter of 2017.

However, the oil major’s operating cash flow fell to $9,427 million, down by a marginal 1% from the year-earlier level.

Zacks Rank: Currently, Royal Dutch Shell carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).