Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) stock traded down more than 2% in Tuesday’s early deals after quarterly earnings came in slightly shy of Wall Street forecasts.
The oil services firm reported $716 million of net income, or 79 cents per share, up from $544 million (60 cents) last year, and, better than the 77 cents forecast by analysts.
Revenue was marked at $5.804 billion versus a consensus prediction of $5.848 billion. It comes as revenue from North America lowered by 1% to $2.6 billion and international revenue was up 17% to $3.19 billion.
The backdrop, meanwhile, is broadly bullish in the sector – not least the recent spate of big money merger and acquisition activity amongst ‘Big Oil’ operators.
Halliburton chief executive Jeff Miller highlighted a positive demand picture for the services firm.
“I am pleased with the stability of our North America business and the profitability of our International growth,” Hiller said in Tuesday's statement.
"Everything I see today strengthens my conviction in the long duration of this upcycle.
“Against this backdrop, we expect continued demand growth for oilfield services in 2024 and beyond.”
Halliburton meanwhile noted it had made some $200mln of stock buy-backs in the quarter, along with $150 million of repurchases of debt securities include senior notes and debentures.
In New York, Halliburton stock fell $1.12 cents or 2.69% changing hands at $40.53.