One of the most difficult parts of trading is timing the markets, although in a bull market this is less of a problem. But it can be particularly difficult calling the market bottom in the middle of a bear market. 24/7 Wall St. is looking back to when the S&P 500 bottomed back in March 2009 to see how some of the major blue chips have fared since then.

Back on March 6, 2009, the S&P 500 bottomed out at 666.79, and from there began perhaps the biggest bull market of the modern era. At the most recent close, the S&P 500 was at 2,732.22, more than quadrupling its bottom nearly nine years ago.

So how does Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) compare?

On an adjusted close basis, Exxon closed March 6, 2009, at $49.18 a share, or at $64.03 on an unadjusted basis. Exxon closed last Friday at $76.54 on an adjusted basis.

Exxon’s growth over this nine-year period was not so impressive, with shares gaining only 55%. This is one of the few instances where the broad markets have vastly outpaced the stock, especially a giant like Exxon.

Although to be fair, most of Exxon’s gains were wiped out in 2014 when oil prices plummeted. Even then the stock was only valued at roughly $100 per share, practically doubling its number in 2009.

So if you had invested $1,000 in Exxon back then, you would have $1,556.32 as of last Friday’s close.

Over the past 52 weeks, Exxon has underperformed the broad markets, with its shares down about 7%. In just 2018 alone, Exxon is down 9%.

Shares of Exxon were last seen trading near $76, with a consensus analyst price target of $87.19 and a 52-week range of $73.90 to $89.30.

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