RBC Capital analyst Kurt Hallead says the pending Baker Hughes (BHI) and Halliburton (HAL) merger has entered a new chapter, following the Department of Justice lawsuit challenging the deal, and assumes a 50% chance of approval. The analyst sees minimal, if any, downside for Halliburton if the deal breaks. However, Hallead believes Baker Hughes will trade down to the $30-$35 per share range if the merger does not happen, adding that investors could look at standalone Baker Hughes as an acquisition target for a large industrial company.

Unusual total active option classes on open include: ImmunityBio (IBRX), Halliburton (HAL), Redfin (RDFN), Nokia (NOK), Matterport (MTTR), General Motors (GM), UPS (UPS), Philip Morris (PM), PepsiCo (PEP), and General Electric (GE).

Reports Q1 revenue $5.8B, consensus $5.67B. "Halliburton delivered solid first quarter results that again demonstrated the power of our strategy and the strength of our execution. Activity in North America recovered from fourth-quarter lows, and our international business delivered its 11th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth," commented Jeff Miller, Chairman, President and CEO. "Our customers' multi-year activity plans across markets and asset types confirms my confidence in the strength and duration of this upcycle. Halliburton demonstrated its commitment to shareholder returns in the first quarter and repurchased $250 million of common stock - a solid start to the year and a good benchmark for our expectations going forward," concluded Miller.