Wall Street is dominated with short-term thinking. Daily market moves and quarterly earnings reports can cause companies to make all sorts of moves that help the share price in the short-term, but not the long-run.
That’s why investors should focus on companies that can deliver great returns over the long-term. That avoids much short-term uncertainty that tends to dominate markets. And it’s why long-term investors should be willing to pay up for a stake in industry leaders.
One industry leader is ExxonMobil (XOM). The energy giant is expanding its operations in the natural gas space.
And they’re also expanding more into lithium production. That will allow the company to benefit from the growth of the electric vehicle market, and could potentially offset a decline in business from the traditional model of selling gasoline.
With Exxon’s size, even a modest investment in lithium production could make them a competitive player in that niche market.
Action to take: Shares are now down 9 percent over the past year, but energy is holding up well in more recent months. Over the long term, Exxon is poised for continued traditional energy demand and new EV demand.
Shares look like a long-term buy at current prices. The recent drop in price has pushed the divided yield up to 3.6 percent.
For traders, shares are at a one-month low, where they’ve found support in the past. The January 2024 $110 calls, last going for about $2.00, could see mid-to-high double-digit gains from a bounce from here in the coming weeks.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.