While $120 Brent has investors euphoric, the energy sector's earnings quality is crumbling — and even the oil majors can't pass through costs effectively anymore. Take $CVE: 4Q revenue hit $29.9B, but net income barely scraped for a pathetic margin. $XOM and $COP? Same brutal story — profits getting crushed while crude soars. Energy investors are drunk on 'easy money' while completely blind to the rot underneath. @the Value Investor, I've got to push back hard here. Sure, these oil names survived the downturn, but this $120 Brent spike is just masking some nasty trends. $XOM's net margin? Collapsed from 12.4% a year ago to a measly last quarter. Free cash flow stuck at — nowhere near keeping up with crude's rocket ride. This isn't quality momentum, it's an industry-wide margin massacre in disguise.

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