Halliburton, Baker Hughes Beat Profit Estimates as International Demand Offsets Weak N. America
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Halliburton Co and Baker Hughes beat analysts' estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday on the back of strong demand for oilfield services internationally, even as domestic activity stumbled.
While oilfield drilling has seen a resurgence abroad, particularly in regions like the Middle East and Latin America, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, weaker oil and gas prices have forced U.S. shale producers to cut oil rigs.
"Growing economic uncertainty continues to drive commodity price volatility globally... Market softness in North America is expected to be more than offset by strength in international and offshore markets," Baker Hughes chief executive officer Lorenzo Simonelli said in a statement, adding that he was constructive on producer spending in 2023.
Halliburton shares were down 2.1% in premarket trading at $37.30, while Baker Hughes' shares were down 3.5% at $33.98 as markets zoomed in on the first signs of weakness in North America.
Halliburton, which gets nearly half its revenue from North America, said revenue from the region fell 2% to $2.7 billion, while that from international operations climbed 7% to $3.1 billion from first quarter.
Halliburton beat analysts' estimate by 2 cents at 77 cents per share for the three months ended June 30, while Baker Hughes topped estimates by 6 cents per share at 39 cents, according to Refinitiv data.
Baker Hughes, a major equipment supplier for liquefied natural gas projects, said it expects the LNG market to exceed 65 million tons per annum (MTPA) of final investment decisions this year and next, on solid demand growth led by Europe and Asia.
(Reuters - Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston, Arunima Kumar and Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Chizu Nomiyama)
February 2024
