BMO Capital analyst Daniel Boyd downgraded Halliburton to Market Perform from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $23. The shares closed Tuesday up 34c to $24.69. While down 7% year-to-date, Halliburton is the best performing large cap energy stock over the past three months on positive changes in frac fundamentals, macro improvements, and high short interest, Boyd tells investors in a research note. However, further outperformance likely requires positive estimate revisions, says the analyst, who expects a "tepid recovery" in U.S. frac despite seasonally higher demand and attrition. His channel checks suggest that pricing remains competitive and visibility for January is limited. Halliburton's current valuation suggests limited share upside, contends Boyd.

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.