Exxon’s Darren Woods & NYC’s Marathon Weekend 10/31/25

Summary

Squawk Pod – October 31, 2025

Episode: Exxon’s Darren Woods & NYC’s Marathon Weekend
Hosts: Becky Quick & Andrew Ross Sorkin
Notable Guests: Darren Woods (ExxonMobil CEO), Rob Simulcazier (NY Roadrunners CEO), Mike Pollack (JackOLanterns.com President)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Squawk Pod dives into several major stories impacting business and culture:

1. An exclusive interview with Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, discussing the oil giant’s quarterly results, the political, economic, and regulatory landscape, and Exxon’s strategic vision.
2. A deep look at the economic and cultural impact of the New York City Marathon with Roadrunners CEO Rob Simulcazier.
3. Timely corporate updates on FANG stocks, Halloween consumer trends, and expert pumpkin preservation tips.

Throughout, hosts Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin extract candid insights, challenge guest CEOs on policy and performance, and blend upbeat conversation with analytical rigor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Market & Tech Stock Updates

FANG and Cloud: Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Netflix

• Amazon's Massive Quarter (03:40)

  • Amazon shares soar 12.6% on better-than-expected earnings and revenue, largely driven by AWS’ 20% YoY growth ($33.2B in revenue, major backlog).
  • CEO Andy Jassy signals ongoing acceleration:

    "We can't satiate [demand] quickly enough. We've got $200 billion in a backlog backorder..." (05:01, Becky Quick)

  • Cloud continues to be a competitive battleground with Microsoft and Google, fueling tech stock momentum.

• Apple's Durable Strength (06:42)

  • Earnings and revenue beat estimates, with iPhone 17 SEO sales strong and Tim Cook forecasting “the best December quarter in history.”
  • Noteworthy skepticism around China sales, but optimism for rebound:

    "For all the moments where people count Apple out, that has been a bad trade." (07:30, Andrew Ross Sorkin)

• Nvidia’s Global Expansion and AI Policy (07:34)

  • CEO Jensen Huang secures major Korean partnerships and touches on potential Blackwell chip sales in China, highlighting US-China tech tensions.

• Netflix’s Stock Split & Acquisition Rumors (08:45)

  • Announces 10-for-1 split to appeal to retail investors, alongside reported interest in acquiring Warner Bros Discovery's studio and streaming arm.

  • "This could get interesting...a bunch of people around the table." (10:54, Andrew Ross Sorkin, on potential bidding war)

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2. Halloween Business – Experience Economy (12:17–16:32)

• Pumpkin Business Trends

  • JackOLanterns.com President Mike Pollack describes Halloween as second only to Christmas for live events.
  • Consumers are split: some seek value, others pay premium (“flex tickets,” no lines, $50–$100+ for a premium experience).

  • “The live events business just keeps getting bigger. But this year…people are really looking for value.” (12:24, Mike Pollack)

  • Pivot to premium experiences is strong among those willing to spend for convenience and exclusivity.

• Artisan Labor & Logistics

  • 90+ pumpkin carvers on Long Island, with large pumpkins taking up to 8 hours to carve.
  • “We’re only asking five days out of these pumpkins...then we cycle them every week.” (16:11, Mike Pollack)
  • Practical pumpkin preservation tip:

    “You have to cut the hole in the bottom. Don’t do it on the top…you want all those juices and the liquid to fall out over time.” (15:39, Mike Pollack)

    “News you can use, folks, because I always do it on the top.” (15:44, Andrew Ross Sorkin)

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3. Exclusive: ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods (18:55–32:13)

Quarterly Results & Production Strategy

• Exxon beat EPS estimates; revenue slightly missed.
• Most profitable quarter since the Exxon-Mobil merger.
• “We continue to reduce cost…That’s a cumulative cost reduction of over $14 billion [since 2019]. Nobody in our industry…is outcompeting us on cost reductions.” (19:27, Darren Woods)
• Portfolio positioned for double-digit returns at $35 oil; robust project pipeline through 2030.

Wall Street Sentiment & Break-Even Economics

• Analysts question growing production into potentially softer oil prices.
• Woods:

  “All the projects that we’re investing in have to generate double digit returns at $35 a barrel.” (22:44, Darren Woods)

• Exxon’s break-even point and technology edge distinguish them from competitors.

Layoffs & Restructuring: US and Europe

• Recent layoffs (2,000) in EU/Canada due to organizational effectiveness, not cost-cutting.
• US consolidation at Houston campus already complete:

  “Those reductions are about 3 to 4% of our global workforce…and they’re not driven by cost cutting, they’re driven by effectiveness.” (24:40, Darren Woods)

Supply, OPEC, and Global Energy Policy

• Exxon supply decisions driven “by pure economics.”
• Short-cycle unconventional reserves offer flexibility:

  “We have the opportunity to turn [resources] on and off consistent with what we’re seeing in the marketplace.” (26:24, Darren Woods)

• Views OPEC as managing “moderated pace,” doesn’t try to predict its moves.

European & Californian Regulation: Cautionary Tone

• Woods is sharply critical of climate-driven regulation in Europe and California:

  “We owed it to our employees to be vocal…The policies being put in place in Europe are actually suffocating their economy.” (27:37, Darren Woods)

  “California is…chasing a flawed ideology. That’s a recipe for disaster.” (29:53, Darren Woods)
• Exxon is suing California over climate disclosure laws (“forced speech”).

Venezuela, Guyana, and Caribbean Geopolitics

• Tensions over Exxon activity in Guyana and Trinidad vs. Venezuela’s objections.
• Woods confident in international support for open markets:

  “The US and many of the European countries are standing up to any bullying that might come out of Venezuela to make sure that Caribbean area remains free.” (31:20, Darren Woods)

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4. New York City Marathon: Economic & Cultural Powerhouse (32:22–41:17)

• Economic Impact & Marathon Culture
  • $1B annual impact from NY Roadrunners events; $700M from the marathon alone.
  • City comes alive:

    “It’s just the energy the city brings. We have 2 million spectators along the course.” (32:33, Rob Simulcazier)

  • International draw as runners and families stay in hotels, visit shows, restaurants—marathon is as much a “giant party” as a sporting event.
• Trends in Running Participation and Sponsorship
  • Running surges post-pandemic, events sell out, younger demographics drawn in.
  • Major sponsors (TCS, New Balance) eager for brand association.

  • “Running is very hot right now...just about every race we hold has been sold out since I've been the CEO for three years.” (37:35, Rob Simulcazier)

• On Marathon Elites vs. Everyman Stories
  • Elliot Kipchoge, the “Michael Jordan of marathon running,” attracts attention, but the sport’s heart is regular runners’ stories (e.g., overcoming cancer, stroke).

  • “That’s where most of the energy is in the sport...incredible and inspiring stories.” (39:43, Rob Simulcazier)

• Gear & Records
  • Innovations in running shoes (“carbon plates”) are legal and help runners of all levels set personal records.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Amazon’s Cloud Growth:
  “We can’t satiate [demand] quickly enough. We’ve got $200 billion in a backlog backorder for these things...”
  – Becky Quick (05:01)

• On Apple:
  “For all the moments where people count Apple out, that has been a bad trade.”
  – Andrew Ross Sorkin (07:30)

• Pumpkin Preservation:
  “You have to cut the hole in the bottom. Don’t do it on the top...you want all those juices and the liquid to fall out over time.”
  – Mike Pollack (15:39)

• Exxon Break-Even Discipline:
  “All the projects that we’re investing in have to generate double digit returns at $35 a barrel.”
  – Darren Woods (22:44)

• On European Energy Policy:
  “The policies being put in place in Europe are actually suffocating their economy.”
  – Darren Woods (27:37)

• Venezuela and the Caribbean:
  “...the US and many of the European countries are standing up to any bullying that might come out of Venezuela…”
  – Darren Woods (31:20)

• Marathon as Citywide Party:
  “It’s just the energy the city brings. We have 2 million spectators along the course.”
  – Rob Simulcazier (32:33)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:40 – Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Netflix updates
• 12:17 – Halloween business: Mike Pollack on jack-o-lanterns and event economics
• 18:55 – Exxon’s Darren Woods on Q3 results, policies, global outlook
• 32:22 – Rob Simulcazier on NYC Marathon: economic impact, culture, trends

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Tone & Style

The episode retained Squawk Pod’s trademark blend of lively “news you can use,” candid CEO exchanges, and accessible market analysis. Key insights were drawn out through pointed, conversational questions, with memorable offbeat moments (pumpkin preservation, marathon medals) supplying levity amid heavy-hitting interviews.

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For additional context and exclusive video, visit CNBC's Squawk Pod show notes and social media feeds.

Transcript

[Schwab Market Update Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] MarketUpdatePodcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you.

[Capella University Announcer]

Get your podcasts At Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the courseroom to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella. Edu.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Bring in show music, please.

[Becky Quick]

Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod, the global politics of oil. Who has it? Who needs it? Where are the danger zones? Exxon CEO Darren woods in an exclusive conversation.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

The US and many of the European countries are standing up to any bullying that might come out of Venezuela to make sure that that Caribbean area remains free.

[Becky Quick]

New York's biggest street party is big business. Marathon Sunday approaches. NY Roadrunners CEO Rob Simulcare New York.

[Rob Simulcazier]

Roadrunners impact on the economy here that is year round. $1 billion in impact. 700 million of that is coming from the Marathon.

[Becky Quick]

Plus FANG stocks still have bite.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But for all the moments where people count Apple out, that has been a bad trade.

[Becky Quick]

And tips for longer lasting pumpkins from jack o lanterns.com.

[Mike Pollack]

You have to cut the hole in the bottom, okay?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

News you can use, folks, because I always do it on the top.

[Becky Quick]

It's Friday, October 31, 2025. Squawkpod begins right now.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Stand back. Goodbye.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

In three, two, one. Cue, please.

[Becky Quick]

Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to Squawkbox right here on cnbc. We're live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. Happy Halloween, everybody. I'm Becky Quick along with Andrew Ross Sorkin. Joe is off today.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You're not wearing any orange. I thought I didn't do it either.

[Becky Quick]

I've done so many things, made boo bags for the kids, got the gifts ready, the candy basket ready, the costumes, and here we are.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But we got pumpkins. We've got some pumpkins for you later and some surprises along the way.

[Becky Quick]

Wait and see. So we didn't forget entirely. We're just, we're playing this up. It's a surprise Halloween. Until we get there, let's take a look at where the futures stand this morning. You're actually going to see the Nasdaq indicated up by over 300 points this morning.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Meantime, President Trump calling for Republicans to change the rules in the Senate to reopen the government. In a post last night, he says the following it is now time for the Republicans to play their trump card and go for what is called the nuclear option. Get rid of the filibuster and get rid of it now. Filibuster is the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to end debate on a bill, effectively allowing a minority party to block legislation as long as they have the support of at least 41 senators. Now, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned against eliminating that filibuster, saying he could come back to bite Republicans in the future when their party is in the minority. His post late night last night I should say President Trump saying that if Democrats ever come back into power, they would eliminate the filibuster rule the first day in office. Anyway, Trump said that he wants to do it now in order to take advantage of the Democrats.

[Becky Quick]

And Amazon shares are soaring this morning. It's hard to see a big cap of this size get this kind of growth, but 12.6% percent is the jump that you are seeing this morning. That came after Amazon's earnings and revenue both beat expectations. In fact, earnings per share beat by a lot. It was A$95 versus the 157 that the street had been expecting. And it was a lot of this because of US Amazon Web Services, the revenue there up 20% to $33.2 $33 billion. That beat not only the Street's expectations but even the whisper numbers that had been out there about this. The CEO Andy Jassy saying that he expects to keep up this pace for a while, which could set the company up for its first ever $200 billion quarter in the current quarter. The fourth quarter on this is growing at a pace we haven't seen since 2022, reaccelerating to 20.2% year over year. Our largest growth rate in 11/4 backlog grew to $200 billion by Q3 quarter end and doesn't include several unannounced new deals in October, which together are more than our total deal volume for all of Q3. There had been a lot of concerns about what was happening, particularly at aws, and that's why the stock has not done nearly as well as some of the other mag sevens this year. With these gains, you're now looking at a year to date gain of about 14%. But that idea of acceleration and Jassy saying he expects it to continue. That's what's got the streets so excited this morning. There are a lot of deals that they didn't even talk about. But they said the numbers included, including with some of the deals that haven't been announced in October. If you look at those, it'd be more than the entire quarter that was even there before. And what they're talking about with some of these things really makes you wonder. Just the idea for demand, saying demand is here. We can't satiate it quickly enough. We've got $200 billion in a backlog backorder for these things that we haven't gotten to yet. And that's what the street keeps waiting to hear from all of these companies. You had very big quarters from both Microsoft and Google this quarter when it came to their Google, their cloud offerings too. So this is the battle. It's profitable. Jensen Huang, I don't know if you heard him yesterday, said this was the quarter that I became profitable. And that's why you have so much money that's chasing this. Once you have something that's profitable, you're going to have lots and lots of places that are building out, trying to accommodate it.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Profitable for these guys. But the cloud, it's not for the other side yet. We'll see. We'll see.

[Becky Quick]

And profitable for Jensen Huang's company when.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You look profitable for them for a very long time.

[Becky Quick]

The one thing that he did say that really caught me kind of off guard is this idea that those job cuts that they had announced. He said it wasn't for financial reasons and it wasn't because of AI. Remember earlier in the summer he had talked about AI maybe eventually meaning that they'd have fewer employees. Said it's just cultural.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No, he's. He's been talking about trying to do that for a while.

[Becky Quick]

I'm down bureaucracy basically and flatten out the.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

He's been concerned for the last year or two. He's been writing about it in some of those letters that we've talked to him about about this whole concept. Just that the whole company got a little too sprawling in particular during the pandemic. Right. Meantime, take a look at shares of Apple because they are higher earnings and revenue beating estimates lifted in part by strong sales of the iPhone 17 SEO. In Tim Cook telling our own Steve Kobach that revenue in the current quarter will rise by at least 10%. He said that would make the December quarter the best in the history of that company. Also said sales in China should return to growth. Q4 China sales falling 3.6% to $14.5 billion. Now, that part was below street estimates, but you're looking at that stock up now about 2%. We're sitting at just about $276 and 63 cents. But for all the moments where people count Apple out, that has been a bad trade.

[Becky Quick]

It has. In the meantime, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang locking down several deals with South Korean companies. That includes Samsung, which is going to be building a new AI MegaFactory and deploying 50,000 Nvidia GPUs. Huang also speaking with our own Eunice Yoon overnight. These are his first comments since the Trump Xi sit down, he said it is up to President Trump whether the Blackwell chip goes on sale in China.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I think it's really good for the United States and for China that Nvidia.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Could bring AI technology to China for many reasons.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

One reason of course, is that the China market is large and it's a vibrant market with a lot of developers and those developers create AI technology that's exported from China all over the world. And so to the extent that American tech stack can run and operate those models, it's good for United States around the world.

[Becky Quick]

Take a look at shares of Nvidia this morning. At this point up by about 2% and again for the one year that stock is up by 56%.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

In time. Netflix announcing a 10 for 1 stock split shareholders as of November 10th, they're going to receive nine additional shares for every one that they hold. The move changes nothing technically or fundamentally really about the company, but could make the pricey shares more accessible to retail investors. Some investors pointed out that the split would make Netflix a more attractive candidate for inclusion in the Dow, which is price weighted average. Right now, of course, that stock sitting just at over $1,000 for each share. 1,000 $1,116. Separately, Reuters reporting that Netflix is actively exploring a bid for Warner Brothers Discovery studio and streaming business report says that Netflix has hired Molis & Co. To evaluate a prospective offer. Reuters says that Netflix has been granted access to to the Data Room, which contains financial details needed to make a bid. CEO Ted Sarandos told investors last week that Netflix would not be interested in acquiring Warner Brothers cable TV networks, which include CNN of course, and tnt, Food Network and others. And so it seems to me the board of Warner Brothers Discovery is going to have a very interesting choice to make. They're either going to have to decide I'm going to take a full buyout from David ellison at currently 2350, maybe it goes up to 25, 26, $27. I don't know how high, how high he'd be willing to go. Or do you take a bid just for the studios and streaming business and then take the risk that the spin out works and that collectively the two of those things is more ultimately than doing a sort of one shot deal? That's going to be the question. And then the question is who's willing to pay or potentially even overpay for the studio and streaming business, which is the crown jewel of the situation. And I do think, you know, if you are Peacock NBC, there's a real incentive to do that because if you do not, that's a subscale business.

[Becky Quick]

Right. So at some point fewer places like where, where do you go, where do you go afterwards?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I don't know whether Netflix needs this as much as anybody else. Amazon, I think actually will be ultimately interested in all this. But this could get interesting.

[Becky Quick]

But a lot of bidders is what you're thinking?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I actually think there's going to be a bunch of people around the table. The question is whether whether the bids for the streaming and studio business, plus whatever you think the valuation of the linear business is, will ever add up to the David Ellison bid for the whole thing and also the execution risk that will be involved in multiple transactions. Exactly. Yeah, that's the question.

[Becky Quick]

It is. And it'll be interesting to hear what shareholders think about some of this too. What kind of pressure they bring to bear, if any.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Well, the question is, are shareholders too short term oriented to say we'll just take the longer play, we'll just take.

[Becky Quick]

The one, the money on the table with one check. Right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So we'll see.

[Becky Quick]

Interesting. Well, Halloween is here and it is a big holiday. Not just for anybody who's in the mood or in the spirit, but anybody who's counting. Consumers are actually expected to spend $13.1 billion on Halloween this year. Our next guest makes it his business to make Halloween gorgeous. And yeah, that's right. Gourd Jack o' Lantern. Get it. Joining us right now is jack o lanterns.com President Mike Pollack. His company has organized two Halloween experiences this spooky season. One on New York's Long island, one in Chicago. Treating, not tricking, tens of thousands of visitors this month. And thank you very much for joining us, Mike. It's great to see you.

[Mike Pollack]

Thanks for having me back.

[Becky Quick]

So we've seen you before, but it's been a little while. How has this holiday grown, let's say over the last Five years.

[Mike Pollack]

Well, it's probably second only to Christmas, I would say. And the live events business just keeps getting bigger. But this year has been a little bit different because the consumer wants to use their money a little bit more efficiently. And I think people are really looking for value this year.

[Becky Quick]

Really? So how do you see that? How do you measure it?

[Mike Pollack]

I measure it in the ticket sales and I see like how many tickets are being sold or not sold. I'm seeing that there's a lot of our customer base is really looking for a premium experience. So the people who do have money are willing to spend it for a bigger, better experience.

[Becky Quick]

What do you get for a premium experience? Because we should mention how many pumpkins are live. Jack o lanterns are live at each of these events.

[Mike Pollack]

So the one on Long island has about 7,000 Jack O' lanterns and 1 real ones. And the one in Chicago, Chicago Botanic Gardens has 1,000.

[Becky Quick]

Wow, that takes some serious manpower to pull that off. But when you say a premium experience, what do you get for that premium experience?

[Mike Pollack]

Well, you could probably get a ticket that allows you to come in whenever you want. So most of the tickets are time tickets, but a lot of people spend up and get that flex ticket for that flexibility. So if it rains, they can come on a different day. They come on a sold out time slot. They want some food and beverage experience that goes with it, they want some merchandise with it, and they don't want to wait on any lines.

[Becky Quick]

Wow. What's it cost for a premium ticket?

[Mike Pollack]

Yeah, it's about $50 for where we are, but there's other places that charge a lot more. $79 over $100 for a ticket for one of these shows?

[Becky Quick]

Yeah, I think I've seen even more for the premium experience to go along with it. How many people can you service and what are we talking about the entire month of October?

[Mike Pollack]

The entire month?

[Becky Quick]

Yeah.

[Mike Pollack]

Mostly it's, you know, Thursday through Sunday and we could probably do about 50,000 people through our Long island show at a time. And we're probably about right at that range right now. There's only two nights left. Tonight and tomorrow night.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

When you say that you're seeing the customer look for something that feels more value.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Yeah.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Is that different than sort of this? There was. It felt like there was a YOLO economy going on sort of post pandemic. Is that the distinction we're talking about here?

[Mike Pollack]

Well, the customers who do have the money, they're willing to spend it and they also don't care too much about the Price. So, like, there is always a customer who wants to come in at the cheapest price, and then there's a customer that wants to come in and they don't care if it's like 10, $15 more, as long as they see the value that they're getting for those extra dollars.

[Becky Quick]

How many artisans do you have carving?

[Mike Pollack]

We have over 90 pumpkin carvers on the team here in Long Island.

[Becky Quick]

How long does it take to carve one of these pumpkins?

[Mike Pollack]

So the small ones that we have here take about an hour or, you know, a design like that. And the big one that you saw with your faces on it took about eight hours.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Wow.

[Mike Pollack]

And they're all hand painted and hand carved.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And do they stencil them for. Tell me how to do it. Because we, you know, our. What we do at home doesn't look like this.

[Schwab Market Update Announcer]

Right.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You can imagine.

[Mike Pollack]

So our artists, we print out something and we stick it onto the. Onto the pumpkin and then we use some charcoal. And then they're just really good artists who have done this for some of them for a decade. And they just hand paint it on there. Some of them can just look at a picture and paint just like that. It's amazing. And then they can just use some sculpt tools and carve it around.

[Becky Quick]

How do you keep it from going bad?

[Mike Pollack]

So the first thing you gotta do with a regular pumpkin like this is you have to cut the hole in the bottom that way.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Don't do it on the top.

[Mike Pollack]

Don't do it on the top. Because you wanna use folks.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Cause I always do it on the top.

[Mike Pollack]

Yeah, don't do it on the top because you want all those juices and the liquid to fall out over time.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Okay.

[Mike Pollack]

The other thing that you might want to do is definitely keep it cool, Keep it out of sunlight for sure. And get as much of the guts out as you can. And then also carve towards the top of the pumpkin and leave a little bit of space at the bottom so it's a little stronger at the bottom.

[Becky Quick]

But do you lacquer these things?

[Mike Pollack]

We do not really. The nice art pumpkin with your faces on it, we would spray some clear coat onto that so it stays a little fresh. And we're only asking five days out of these pumpkins. So they get carved on like a Tuesday. We put them out on a Wednesday. They get disposed on a Monday, and we cycle them every week.

[Becky Quick]

Wow. Mike, we want to thank you for coming in. Happy Halloween.

[Mike Pollack]

And thank you for having a great tie. Thank you. Appreciate it.

[Becky Quick]

To see the custom Squawk Box carved pumpkins featuring the gorgeous faces of Joe, Becky and Andrew. Check out our show notes for a link to a video clip of this segment or follow us on X. Our handle is Squawk. CNBC clips are there as well. And next on Squawk Pod America's largest energy company Exxon, reporting quarterly results today. CEO and chairman Darren woods on the politics of oil and his company is not immune to job cuts.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Those reductions are about 3 to 4% of our global workforce and they're not driven by cost cutting, they're driven by effectiveness.

[Becky Quick]

We'll be right back.

[Schwab Market Update Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] MarketUpdatePodcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts. Tonight's Meal Tilapia Surprise with boiled cabbage. Begin cooking steps 1:50 now.

[Becky Quick]

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[Becky Quick]

You're listening to squawk pod from CNBC. Here's Becky Quick.

ExxonMobil out with third quarter results this morning. And joining us right now to talk about it is Darren Woods. He's ExxonMobil's chairman and CEO. And Darren, welcome. It's really great to have you here today.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Thank you. Becky. Good to see you again.

[Becky Quick]

Good to see you too. Let's talk a little bit about the numbers you guys beat on the bottom line. Adjusted earnings per share A$88 versus the consensus of A$82 revenue looked like it was a little short of Wall Street's call, at least according to some analyst expectations. 85.3 versus 86.5. How would you characterize the quarter?

[Producer/Technical Cue]

I'd say it's a very, very strong quarter. In fact, if you go back in time and look at all the quarters since we merged with ExxonMobil, merged in the similar price environment, this is the highest earnings per share we've ever delivered and reflects a lot of the hard work we've been doing since 2019. We continue to reduce cost. This year. I expect we'll have another two and a half billion dollars of cost reductions. If you go back to 2019, that's a cumulative cost reduction of over $14 billion. Nobody in our industry, in fact, if you take all of our industry competitors and add them together, we're still out competing them on cost reductions and then we're growing the top line. If you look at our production coming out of the Permian, it's at record levels, coming out of Guyana at record levels. So I think a very, very strong quarter in a mixed price environment. And importantly, we're laying the foundation for the growth out to 2030. Our plans today will grow earnings by $20 billion through 2030 and cash flow by $30 billion. And a really critical part of that are these enormous mega projects that we have to bring on this year. We had to deliver 10 projects, advantage projects that are going to deliver form the foundation for this growth. We're through eight of those so far and we've delivered all those consistent with our plans on or ahead of schedule, on or ahead of budget? Frankly, nobody else in our industry has had that kind of track record.

[Becky Quick]

Yeah, you know, I looked at the results and I thought they were pretty good too, which surprised me to see the street trading the stock off by 1.6%. I've been digging around trying to figure out why a sell off. Maybe you can enlighten us with what you think. The only thing I could come up with was something from Barron's where they just point out that ExxonMobil is growing production at a time of potentially falling oil prices. Historically, that's led to problems in the past with some of these companies. With some companies. What's your explanation of what the Street's instant reaction is to this, Darren?

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Well, I think in any, at any moment in time, what we've seen here, I suspect today and what we've seen here in the last several weeks and months, frankly, is just the uncertainty in the Market where the supply and demand demand balances are going to land with respect and people taking bets as to what they think is going to happen going forward. Frankly, we don't spend a lot of time worrying about or trying to predict what short term prices are going to do. We stay very focused on the long term. And frankly, if you look at the work we've been doing to drive our costs down and drive production down, our profitability on a barrel of oil has more than doubled since 2019 on a constant price price basis. And from a break even standpoint, our cost of production is very, very low. And so even today, at today's prices, we feel really good about the economics. The returns that we're generating, the plans that we lay out going forward in the future, the prices are very consistent with what we've seen here. In fact, we're resilient much, much further down in the price. So we feel good about the returns that we're generating. I think if you compare other companies, they don't have the same, I think, break even cost that we do. And so they may be more challenged in these environments, but we're still generating very, very strong returns.

[Becky Quick]

What is your break even cost?

[Producer/Technical Cue]

All the projects that we're investing in have to generate a double digit returns at $35 a barrel.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Wow.

[Becky Quick]

And that's for your portfolio right now, or the portfolio as you see it five years from now, ten years from now.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

The, the investments that you know, as you know, Becky, we've been making investments probably investing at a higher rate than our competitors. And the criteria that we've set for ourselves, for our investments in the upstream and frankly across all of our businesses is we have to be at the low end of the cost of supply curve in these commodity markets where the market supply and the market demand sets the price. We're basically price takers. Our job is to be at the far left hand side of the cost of supply curve. So whoever's out there setting that last barrel price, that we have a healthy margin. And so all the projects we've been investing in since frankly I've been in this job, have been driven by this very low cost of supply. That's the hurdle that our businesses have to get over in generating these projects. And it's why we put so much emphasis on technology. If you don't have a technology advantage, if you can't bring the scale, you can't bring the best thinking of your organization to develop innovative advantage projects, then we won't have a long term future. And frankly, all the work we've been doing is enhancing those capabilities and that's manifesting itself in very advantaged projects.

[Becky Quick]

Hey, Darren. We don't have a lot of data points from the government, obviously, because they've been shut down. We've been trying to do our best to kind of get a few feel for what the jobs market, other areas look like from the CEOs we talked to you all, did announce last month that you were going to have layoffs of about 2,000 people. This was a restructuring in the EU and in Canada, I believe. Maybe this fits into what you're talking about with trying to make sure you're in the right places with the right projects. But from the jobs perspective, how do you see the environment right now? What's Exxon doing?

[Producer/Technical Cue]

So with respect to the announcement, you know, the work we've been doing since 2019 has really been focused on transforming how we work, becoming much more effective and more efficient at the same time. This last announcement was more of a focus on where we work. So as we've changed our work processes, drive our team to be more innovative, increase the teamwork, the footprint that we were in is frankly decades old. And so we are shifting our footprint consistent with now how we work. And so that has an impact broadly around the US that those reductions are about 3 to 4% of our global workforce. So they're not. And they're not driven by cost cutting, they're driven by effectiveness. And of course, with that comes some efficiency. There are no impacts here in the US we had made those changes already by consolidating all of our offices down to campus that we have in Houston. With respect to the broader market, frankly, if you look at demand for our businesses, demand is. Remains very, very healthy with growing economies, continued growth in economies all around the world, and our ability to attract employees from the wage level all the way into professionals, we're not seeing any challenges with respect to that. So things look pretty good right now for the business in terms of how we're running it. Big challenge in the marketplace and what's driving that commodity cycle is the amount of supply that's coming onto the market.

[Becky Quick]

Frankly, and the amount of supply that's coming onto the market. The big majors like yourself obviously hitting these, you know, new production records that you all are bringing out, but you're not a nation state, the supply that you're bringing on versus what we're going to hear from OPEC this weekend.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Well, you know, what we're looking at and the decisions that we make to Bring supply on is driven by pure economics in terms of the returns that we're going to generate. We have a very large portfolio of unconventional resources which are much more short cycle. And so we have the opportunity to turn those on and turn those off consistent with what we're seeing in the marketplace. We haven't reached the point yet where we see the economics leading us to do anything with supply. With respect to what OPEC and the others are doing, I don't have much insight into that. I obviously can see what the decisions they make after they make them. I think what I've seen is they're trying to take a very moderated pace to managing the market and trying to keep their the world balances, that world supply and demand balances kind of at the right level.

[Becky Quick]

Darren, in the past, in recent quarters, you've spoken with us about some of the European regulation, especially with climate regulation, and just how different this was than what we've seen in the past. You've been very vocal about this, how bad some of this policy you think is, and you've been getting some help from the Trump administration. Can you give us an update with where things stand, whether or not you think you're being heard on this?

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Yeah, you know, we took a conscious decision to come out and be much more vocal, frankly, because we saw the vector of our businesses in Europe and, you know, we've been there for over 100 years and have an employee base. I've spent a third of my career working and living in Europe. And so we were watching this attrition and deindustrial de industrialization of the European economy. And we felt like, if nothing else, we owed it to our employees to be vocal and to ring the bell that the policies being put in place in Europe are actually suffocating their economy. That's the motivation behind being very explicit and trying to be as vocal as possible. I think we are seeing some movement in the right direction there. I think the European leaders, policymakers, beginning to recognize that they've painted themselves into a corner with some of the ideology that they've subscribed to that isn't really linked to the practical realities of meeting the world's demand for affordable and reliable energy while working to reduce the emissions. And frankly, what we're trying to demonstrate to the world is that you can do both of these things. You can continue to meet the world's need for affordable and reliable energy, and you can continue to reduce emissions. In fact, that's what we're doing as we grow our business in production, we're actually driving the intensity, the greenhouse gas intensity of our products down. It can be done. I think the European leaders have seen that. We had 46 CEOs, European CEOs come out and ask the policymakers in Europe to eliminate that bill. And Qatar, the energy minister came out and publicly stated that they would not supply LNG to Europe. So there is movement with people recognizing that this policy and this legislation of Europe trying to regulate and legislate any company that's operating around the world with European legislation, flawed legislation is a bad idea.

[Becky Quick]

You're. You've been pretty vocal in California, too. You're actually suing California ahead of the climate disclosure laws that are taking place. Is this all kind of the same theory that if you don't speak up, you're going to be in a position where it's either not profitable or you don't want to do business in these places anymore?

[Producer/Technical Cue]

I think that's right. What you see happening, in fact, if you read the media in California, they now are very concerned about having a continued supply of affordable energy, particularly refined products that come out of refineries. Most of the refineries have closed and left California. And so we are trying to make sure that policymakers hear loud and clear the implications of some of the decisions that they're making. Frankly, what we see happening in California is very consistent with what we've seen happen in Europe, which is chasing a flawed ideology, translating that into legislation and regulations, and then ultimately driving businesses out of their jurisdiction. That's a recipe for disaster. And in this case, it's California taking an ideology, translating it into legislation and regulations, and then forcing companies like Exxon Mobil to adopt that in their disclosures. And frankly, that's forced speech from our perspective, and we're trying to stand up against that.

[Becky Quick]

Venezuela, very quickly, obviously, we've been talking about the global implications of what's happening in Venezuela politically. You do business, you've got an exploration treaty in Trinidad and Tobago, and then obviously, we know you're pretty well established in Guyana, too. Are you concerned about what's happening in Venezuela right now? I'd been reading a little bit about how Venezuela is not happy with what you're doing in Trinidad. And they're trying to maybe see stand up and push back on some of those things right now.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Well, I think, you know, Venezuela has probably been unhappy with us for a while with the work that we've been doing Guyana, the production that we've been bringing on. But as we've seen, frankly, the people of Guyana. The work that we've been doing Guyana has been very, very successful. I think there's a broader global coalition that recognizes the need to keep markets open and free enterprise. And so I feel pretty confident that the US and many of the European countries are standing up to any bullying that might come out of Venezuela to make sure that that that Caribbean area remains free and that countries have the right to pursue their domestic resources and grow their economies independent of what Venezuela thinks they should be doing.

[Becky Quick]

All right, Darren, we want to thank you very much for joining us this morning. Darren woods is the chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil, and we appreciate your time today.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Thank you. Becky.

[Rob Simulcazier]

Tees will be next.

[Becky Quick]

Coming up on Squawk Pod.

The New.

York City Marathon is this weekend. Rob Simulcare is CEO of the event's host, New York Roadrunners, and he gives us a preview of the signature event that brings nearly a billion dollars to the Big Apple.

[Rob Simulcazier]

It's just the energy the city brings. We have 2 million spectators along the course.

[Becky Quick]

The best marathon in the world, maybe.

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[Becky Quick]

Welcome back to Squawk Pod up and Becky Q.

You're watching Squawk Box right here on cnbc. I'm Becky Quick along with Andrew Ross Sorkin. Joe is out today.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

More than 50,000 runners getting ready to lace up for this Sunday for the TCSNY C Marathon. An economic impact study found that the New York Roadrunners year round events contributed nearly $1 billion in additional spending to the local economy. The study was commissioned by the New York Runners Roadrunners and conducted by Audience Research and Analysis in partnership with Apple C. Joining us right now ahead of the Big day is. Rob Simulcazier is the New York Roadrunner CEO. We haven't seen you in a while.

[Rob Simulcazier]

Nice to see you.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

It's good to see you. Yeah. You're not running, though, this weekend?

[Rob Simulcazier]

I am not.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You just did Chicago.

[Rob Simulcazier]

I ran Chicago a few weeks ago. I'm recovering from that. I run New York twice.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Yeah.

[Rob Simulcazier]

So it's been a while, but it's the best in the world.

[Becky Quick]

How many marathons a year do you run?

[Rob Simulcazier]

I've run five in my life, so I'm not. I don't run, like, crazy amount of marathons. I kind of actually am more of like a 10k runner. That's my. That's more my speed. But the marathon's an amazing event. It's something that's more than running. It's. It's just a giant party, and people do it. Yes, you do it for the running, but, you know, for so many people, it's just a bucket list item.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

So it's sort of. I have to say, it's like, sort of on my bucket list. Like, are you going to do this one day? One day? I sort of want to do it, but the question is, what makes New York different? When you say it's the best in the world, people say that.

[Producer/Technical Cue]

Yeah.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You know, I'm sure the folks in Boston think that theirs is the best, and the folks in Chicago think theirs and the folks in Tokyo think. What is it about New York in your mind?

[Rob Simulcazier]

What makes New York different is New York, to be honest. I mean, the energy of the city, the crowds that you experience out there, there's nothing else like it. I mean, the second you cross the Verrazano Bridge, and first of all, there's just that incredible start going over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. It's dramatic. It's incredible. And then you go into Brooklyn, and the second you get off that bridge, the crowds are 10 deep. And they stay that way for just about 26.2 miles. I'm sure a lot of you have friends and family that have annual parties along the marathon route. It really is that. It's just the energy the city brings. We have 2 million spectators along the.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Course, and is that different than other cities? Is there any other city that brings that many people out for that day?

[Rob Simulcazier]

Not to my knowledge. I mean, it's just the scale of the city is unbelievable. I will say I was impressed with Chicago. It was the closest I've seen to New York, but it wasn't New York.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

And in terms of the economics, just even Thinking about sort of where all that money is coming from. This is folks who are coming to the city for the marathon, hotels, restaurants, all of that. Or is this sort of year round runners?

[Rob Simulcazier]

So the year round number of $1 billion, which is new York Roadrunners impact on the economy here, that is year round, $1 billion in impact. 700 million of that is coming from the marathon. And if you walk up and down the streets of New York this weekend, it won't be hard to see. I just on my way over here from my apartment, I passed a runner from France, a runner from Italy warming up. And they're not here alone. They've got their friends and their family with them. They're staying at hotels in Manhattan.

[Becky Quick]

What are you talking to them on the street in the morning?

[Rob Simulcazier]

I saw them warming up. I saw them in their windbreakers with their country logos on it, going out to do their warm up runs in the park.

[Becky Quick]

I wouldn't recommend talking to people at this hour in Times Square.

[Rob Simulcazier]

The runners are friendly, they're all in a great mood. They're happy to be here. They're everywhere right now. If you're in the city, you will see them. And they come for not just a couple of days, they come for a week. They stay in hotels, they see shows, they're going to museums, meeting in restaurants.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

What is the money like in terms of sponsorship today? Because the other thing is there's more competition than ever for all sorts of, you know, both marathons, but also people are doing Ironmans and Tough Mudders and there's all sorts of new competitions that are emerging. And I wonder how you even even think about yourselves competing with other events like that.

[Rob Simulcazier]

Running is very hot right now. Since the pandemic when a lot of people started running, there's really been a boom in running. I mean, just about every race that we hold has been sold out since I've been the CEO for three years. And so a lot of brands want to be associated with runners. Not only are there a lot of runners right now, but they're getting younger as well. This used to be something that running of a marathon used to be something that was, they used to joke it was like a midlife crisis. Now it's like a rite of passage for kids who are coming out of college and graduate school at 25 years old. So the brands are really excited. We've got obviously a great set of sponsors. Tcs, our title sponsor. I'm here wearing New Balance today. We got a long list of them and they all really Want to have a relationship with this huge community of runners.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Do you think that there's ever going to be a day where there are marathoners, that. That there's like a Michael Jordan of marathon, meaning that the runners themselves become almost sort of giant personalities in their own right now? I know obviously there's a whole bunch that are sort of influencers and other things, but do you think that'll ever reach this sort of different level of like a major professional sport, for example?

[Rob Simulcazier]

Well, it's a good question. You know, the closest thing to a Michael Jordan that marathon running has ever had is actually running the New York City Marathon this weekend for the first time. He's older now. He's 41 years old. His name is Elliot Kipchoge. He set the world record several times over. He was the number one marathoner in the world for a very long time. But in terms of that level of media, kind of like worldwide fame, I don't know. I think that where the energy and running is coming from right now is from the regular runner. You know, the people have these incredible and inspiring stories. We actually have a documentary out right now. We just released it a couple days ago on YouTube called 26.2, and it's about four runners who overcame unbelievable odds to run the marathon last year. You know, one of them overcame breast cancer, one of them overcame a stroke. Right. And those are the stories that really are inspiring people to run marathons. And I think that's where most of the energy is in the sport. But we certainly have some incredible pro athletes running this week and every week in our. In our big races.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Okay, well, thank you. I'm going to have to do this one of these days. What would be a respectable. A respectable time for. For a first timer?

[Rob Simulcazier]

Oh, I like.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

If I were to actually go. Go down this rabbit hole. You finish and I'm impressed when we finish. Right.

[Rob Simulcazier]

I would say respectable. Anything under five hours would be respectable if you're not really a runner and have never run before. And by the way, Andrew, if you ever decide to run, you could get something like this. This is our metal this year, and we're very proud of this medal. I wanted to show this to you guys because it is actually really unique. If you run your finger along the medal, it's the topography of the course. Feel the hills on the course. That's cool. As you run your finger along.

[Becky Quick]

There are some big hills on that course.

[Rob Simulcazier]

Yeah. And, you know, the highest point in the course is the first mile, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Is the highest point. So you get past that.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Anybody monitor, by the way, all these new, like spring loaded sneakers. Is there anybody looking to see what you're actually wearing on your feet?

[Rob Simulcazier]

There's a lot of research that's done certainly by the runners to see how much energy it gives you.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

No, no, but there's, aren't there certain sneakers that are illegal? You can't, you can't wear them on the, on the course. And I want to know who's, who's, who's the referee that's actually monitoring.

[Rob Simulcazier]

There's a lot of people, world athletics monitors like equipment and what you can wear. But the shoes that are making people faster now are all legal. They have, you know, carbon plates and things like that. They give you a little more energy off of every step. And, you know, we're seeing a lot of records set with those, but also a lot of regular folks like me using those to try to set personal records because that's kind of the mindset of the, of the runner. Everybody wants to beat their best time.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Rob, thank you. Congratulations and good luck this weekend.

[Rob Simulcazier]

Great to see you guys.

[Becky Quick]

Thank you.

And that is the pod for today and for the week week. Thanks for listening. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Tune in weekday mornings on CNBC at 6 Eastern to get the best of our TV show right into your ears. Follow Squawkpod wherever you like to get your podcasts. If you've been listening for a while and you like what you hear, please let us know. It takes a few seconds to rate Squawk Pod on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You could also write a brief review with your thoughts that helps other listeners find us. We'll meet you right back here on Monday. Have a great weekend and happy Halloween.

[Mike Pollack]

We are clear.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Thanks, guys.

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[Producer/Technical Cue]

Get 24.

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