The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Halliburton Company, National Oilwell Varco, Superior Energy Services and RPC

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 4, 2019 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Halliburton Company HAL, National Oilwell Varco, Inc. NOV, Superior Energy Services, Inc. SPNV and RPC Inc., RES.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

Oil Price Plunge Puts Jobs Across Oilfield Industry in Crisis

The oilfield services industry has witnessed a massive downturn over the last few quarters. With WTI Crude price still struggling to cross the $50 per barrel mark for a sustained period, oilfield services companies are experiencing slowdown in recovery. This lean period forced oilfield service providers to cut costs significantly by suspending some of their major operations and trimming jobs while looking for innovative ways to churn out more oil and gas. While this strategic action might improve profit levels to a certain degree, the overall sentiment surrounding the industry persists to be mostly negative.

Industry Performance

Let’s take a look at the price performance of the oil and gas field services industry. In the past five years, the S&P 500 Index has surged 51.7% against the oil and gas energy sector’s 33.1% slump. During this period, the Zacks oil and gas field services industry plunged a whopping 46.4%. Moreover, the industry currently ranks at the bottom 5% of the Zacks Industry Rank.

Oilfield Jobs in Jeopardy

While behemoths like Halliburton are grappling with issues, smaller companies are faring no better.

In a bid to bounce back from the controlled spending by oil and gas producers due to weak prices, Halliburton Company plans to slash headcount by nearly 800 at its El Reno operation in Oklahoma. Further, it plans to close its office in the suburbs of the same city.

Also, the move comes within two months of Halliburton’s announcement of laying off 650 employees across four states, namely New Mexico, Wyoming, North Dakota and Colorado.

This Houston-based oilfield service provider realized that in order to enhance its operating efficiency despite challenging market conditions, it has to lower costs substantially.

Halliburton noted that for operators in North America where oil production hit record levels, it’s more about returns now and not growth. The volatility in commodity price convinced explorers and producers to adopt a relatively conservative approach to capital expenditure programs. This shift in customer strategy is likely to induce subdued demand for oilfield services and equipment, putting much pressure on pricing.

This organizational restructuring is anticipated to help Halliburton achieve its purpose of minimizing expenses and optimizing operational excellence by testing and supporting its employees.

Further, Texas-based National Oilwell Varco, Inc. announced that it will retrench 85 personnel as it plans to shut down its equipment-making operations for offshore and onshore drilling rigs at its Galena Park facility due to the continuing drop in shale business, which  in turn, induced a fall in drilling and completion activity in the United States and Canada.

Additionally, in the recently-reported quarter, National Oilwell Varco’s bottom line declined from the year-ago period’s break-even earnings as North American drillers scale back their production growth plans, leaving less scope of work for the likes of National Oilwell Varco.

Moreover, Pumpco Energy Services, Inc., an affiliate of Superior Energy Services, Inc., widely known for delivering fracking services for well digging completions, recently made 112 workers redundant at its Odessa, TX-based site. While RPC Inc., confirmed reducing part of its workforce. The company has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Conclusion

Even though the oil and gas field services industry spreads bearish sentiments among investors, sluggish US oil output might give a wake-up call to ramp up activity on the international front for narrowing the demand-supply divide. This, in turn, could create an avenue of opportunities for multinational oilfield service companies.

7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days

Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers “Most Likely for Early Price Pops.”

Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.6% per year. So be sure to give these hand-picked 7 your immediate attention.

See 7 handpicked stocks now >>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com                    

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NOV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Halliburton Company (HAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
RPC, Inc. (RES) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Superior Energy Services, Inc. (SPNV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.