ExxonMobil (XOM 0.51%) has financial interests in clean-energy sources, but for the foreseeable future, the company's bread and butter will be its fossil-fuel revenue. Hence, geopolitical disruptions and petroleum-market merger and acquisition (M&A) activity are top-of-mind for ExxonMobil stock traders in 2023's final quarter.

At the same time, investors shouldn't ignore foundational priorities like value and yield. If ExxonMobil stock is suddenly down, even while the company's profit prospects are on the rise, perhaps the market is handing you a pre-holiday gift that you mustn't refuse.

Value, dividends, and the knock-on effects of war

When assessing ExxonMobil's value proposition to investors, a natural place to start is with traditional metrics. As it turns out, ExxonMobil's generally accepted accounting principles-measured (GAAP-measured) trailing-12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 8.8 is roughly in line with the sector median P/E ratio of 8.53. This seems to suggest that the entire sector is reasonably valued at the moment. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil's trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 1.24 is moderately lower than the sector median P/S ratio of 1.39.

So far, so good. For passive-income-focused investors, ExxonMobil's forward annual dividend yield of 3.28% is enticing, and the 28.84% trailing-12-month payout ratio suggests ExxonMobil's dividend is sustainable (I consider it a red flag when a dividend payout ratio, or the portion of a company's earnings that is paid out in dividend distributions over the course of a year, exceeds 50%).

Then there's the elephant in the room that can't simply be bypassed in this discussion. The war in the Gaza Strip might end up involving petroleum-rich Iran and could put a floor on the oil price for a while, even if near-term tensions are somehow resolved. What's happening in the Middle East is unfortunate on many levels, but ExxonMobil stock may move up in tandem with petroleum prices, even if it won't be a one-to-one correlation.

ExxonMobil: Punished for making history?

Along with the regrettable but undeniable oil price catalyst, ExxonMobil stock should get a long-term lift from what's been described as the biggest U.S. energy industry deal in decades. Of course, I'm referring to ExxonMobil's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), which comes with a price tag of $59.5 billion.

This merger will likely prove to be historic, not just because of its cost. It will produce what may be the most powerful U.S. oil business in the modern era, as ExxonMobil now expects to control the equivalent of 16 billion barrels of crude-oil reserves in the U.S.'s petroleum-prospective Permian Basin region. In addition, there's history-making potential here as the acquisition could usher in an era of intense M&A activity in the Permian Basin -- or, as Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield called it, "extreme consolidation."

History-making or not, the merger will, at the very least, give ExxonMobil access to the resources of a shale whale. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods justifiably characterized Pioneer Natural Resources as a "clear leader in the Permian." Woods suggested a synergistic effect, declaring that the combined business "will provide long-term value creation well in excess of what either company is capable of doing on a stand-alone basis."

Yet, ExxonMobil stock dropped in the wake of the merger's announcement. In fact, this continued a sharp share-price downtrend from $120 to $105 and change.

Intriguingly, this pullback occurred despite the oil price catalyst and the seemingly positive merger news. Bear in mind, however, that it's not unusual for an acquiring business to sustain an immediate share price hit as the market assesses the substantial short-term financial cost of the buyout. It's certainly not indicative of ExxonMobil's long-term value proposition as a bigger, more diversified, and more powerful player in the American oilfield.

So, in case I didn't send a clear enough message by now, ExxonMobil stock is definitely worth buying. There's something here for value hunters, income investors, oil-price bulls, and folks who know a history-making moment when they see it.