We recently published a list of 10 Best Low Volatility Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) stands against other best low volatility stocks to buy now.
The US stock market experienced a turbulent first quarter of 2025, marked by increased volatility and negative returns across the major indices. Uncertainty surrounding the performance of technology stocks, economic data, and trade tensions caused market volatility.
The year began with the revelation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software developed in China called DeepSeek. The innovative AI rivalled its US competitors, such as ChatGPT, and was considered revolutionary compared to others, sending shockwaves across the global markets. Reuters reported a global investor sell-off across US indexes, with one of the major tech companies alone losing $593 million in one day. The US government was quick to implement policies aimed at promoting US-listed tech firms, while simultaneously reducing the impact of DeepSeek AI, such as the use of tariffs against trade with Chinese firms.
In February of 2025, the US government’s first round of Tariffs was aimed directly at China in an effort to curb the impact of DeepSeek on the United States’ tech industry. In March, President Trump announced a rate of 54% tariff on Chinese goods, while China retaliated with 34% tariffs on US goods and services. As reported by CNBC, the total tariffs applied on Chinese goods by the United States stand at 145%, as of April 11, 2025, with exemptions on specific sectors such as Technology, Automobiles & Smart Phones. China implemented retaliatory trade tariffs of 125% on American goods and services.
Due to this economic landscape, the uncertainty surrounding interest rates added to market volatility. The Federal Reserve announced it would maintain interest rates between 4.25% and 4.50%. Speaking at a dinner at the Economic Club of Chicago, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated:
“For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.”
The US economy is considered to be entering “continuous stagflation”, which is defined as continued inflation with very low growth and high unemployment. The Cboe Volatility Index (aka VIX) is one of the indicators that the Fed monitors as part of the broader tools available to assess market conditions. A VIX of 20 or higher suggests a higher-than-normal level of expected price fluctuations. The VIX is currently at 32.64%.
The current market suggests that investors might want to lean toward low-risk stocks to avoid potential financial pitfalls. Low-volatility stocks are currently outpacing the broader market and proving their strength during uncertain times. After two lackluster years, this strategy has emerged as the top-performing investment theme of 2025 among the 13 tracked by Bloomberg Intelligence. Joe Gilbert, portfolio manager at Integrity Asset Management, made the following comment about the low risk stocks:
“Investors are going to have to live with volatility at least for the remainder of this year. The lower volatility names are the place for investors to hide.”
Our Methodology
In this article, we researched the 20 Companies with the lowest 5-year beta (monthly) between 0.2 and 0.8, using the Yahoo Finance stocks screener. Next, we used Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 proprietary hedge fund holdings database and identified the 10 most popular hedge fund stocks. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their hedge fund positions.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with hedge funds. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Aerial view of a major oil rig in the middle of the sea, pumping crude oil.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)
5-Year Monthly Beta: 0.58
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 104
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is a global energy and chemical company. The company is involved in the manufacture, trading, transportation, and sale of a wide range of products through 4 main segments, namely Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) also announced leadership changes within the company, with Karen McKee set to retire and Matt Crocker appointed as President of ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company, with effect from May 1.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is highly susceptible to headwinds in commodities, namely the price of oil. The Wall Street Journal reported that the price of oil/barrel could be as low as $60. The current global trade landscape is marked by increasing tariffs and trade tensions between the US and retaliatory measures from other nations, particularly China and Canada, which have the potential to impact the company’s export strategy due to lower global demand.
Despite these hurdles, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) continues to show stellar performance through its financials. The company had a topline of $83.43 billion for Q4 2024, with an EPS of $1.67. Looking forward, XOM has outlined plans to focus on increasing synergies from acquisitions, growing new business earnings, and achieving further structural cost savings. The company aims to increase Upstream production and high-value product sales, while diversifying by investing in lower emissions opportunities and maintaining a robust capital expenditure program. This includes its project in Guyana, LNG projects globally, alongside advancements in carbon capture and storage technologies.
Overall, XOM ranks 6th on our list of best low volatility stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential of XOM, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than XOM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.