As previously reported, Stephens downgraded Baker Hughes (BHI) to Equal Weight from Overweight as the merger deadline approaches. Analyst Matthew Marietta says he now sees "significant risk" to deal closure with Halliburton's (HAL), given the delay of the Halliburton's earnings call to after April 30 deadline and a fairly ominous report issued by the DOJ. Marietta also noted that Baker Hughes sees continued degradation of its NAM pumping business citing that the product line continues to generate negative cash flows. The analyst lowered his price target on the Baker Hughes' shares to $39 from $64.

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.