How Was Marathon Oil’s Year-Over-Year Stock Price Performance?

On March 3, Marathon Oil’s (MRO) stock crossed over its 50-day moving average for the first time in 2016. As of March 23, 2016, Marathon was trading ~13% above its 50-day moving average. However, the one-year historical trend in the graph below shows that MRO hasn’t been able to stay above its 50-day moving average for longer periods.

MRO’s 200-day moving average, a strong upside resistance, has seen a consistent downtrend since last year. On March 23, 2016, Marathon was trading ~37% below its 200-day moving average.

As crude oil prices (USO) rapidly started falling in 2H15, so did Marathon’s stock price. Crude oil prices fell to their lowest levels since February 2009, below $40 per barrel in December 2015. However, crude oil prices have been rallying recently, which explains the recent uptrend in MRO’s stock. On March 17, crude oil prices touched the $40 per barrel mark again. Year-over-year, Marathon’s stock fell by 61%.

Marathon Oil reported a fiscal 2015 adjusted net loss of $869 million. This compares to adjusted net income of ~$1.2 billion in fiscal 2014. To read about MRO’s 4Q15 earnings in detail, read Market Realist’s Did Marathon Oil’s Earnings Finally Beat Estimates in 4Q15?

Many upstream companies have been hit by weak crude and natural gas prices in 2015. For example, Hess (HES) recorded adjusted net losses of $1.1 billion in fiscal 2015 versus earnings of $1.2 billion in fiscal 2014. Apache (APA) reported a net loss of $130 million in fiscal 2015 versus earnings of $2 billion in fiscal 2014. Diamondback Energy’s (FANG) adjusted net income in fiscal 2015 was $113.8 million versus $119.4 million in fiscal 2014. Concho Resources (CXO) reported a net income of $110.8 million in fiscal 2015 versus $443.6 million in fiscal 2014.

These companies combined make up ~12% of the iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO).