Street View: Refining continues to do the heavy lifting for ExxonMobil

** ExxonMobil XOM.N exceeded analysts' quarterly profit estimates on Friday, helped by surging refining margins that boosted earnings from the operation to levels comparable to its higher-margin upstream businesses

** Median PT of 28 brokerages covering the stock is $180.5 - LSEG-compiled data

POWERS THROUGH VOLATILITY

** Morgan Stanley ("overweight," PT: $187) says XOM's strong downstream business more than offsets production disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict, leaving it well-positioned to benefit from tight petroleum products markets

** Evercore ISI ("outperform," PT: $200) says in "a highly strategic environment across the global upstream, XOM should be expected to play a part in bolstering the longer-term upstream outlook and continuing to strengthen a very strong strategic footing vs peers"

** Morningstar (fair value: $162) says XOM's large refining footprint leaves it well placed to benefit from strong refining margins, which it expects to stay elevated amid refinery outages and tight inventories

** RBC Capital Markets ("sector perform," PT: $180) says XOM is well placed to weather oil market volatility and maintain strong refining margins, backed by its scale and long-term charters