As previously reported, Wells Fargo analyst Christopher Voie downgraded Helmerich & Payne (HP) and Nabors Industries (NBR), both to Underperform from Outperform, and downgraded Patterson-UTI (PTEN) to Underperform from Market Perform. He also lowered his view on the Land Drillers sector to Underweight, citing falling leading-edge dayrates, limited contract coverage, and expectations for a weaker contracting environment in 2020-2021. His revised 2020 EBITDA estimates for the group are 13%-21% below consensus, noted Voie, who lowered his price target on Helmerich & Payne shares to $30 from $55, cut his price target on Nabors to $2 from $3.50 and reduced his Patterson-UTI target to $7.50 from $11.50.

Reports Q1 revenue $734M, consensus $728.89M. The first quarter results included a gain, related to mark-to-market treatment of Nabors warrants, of $6M, or 62c per diluted share. Anthony Petrello, Nabors Chairman, CEO and President, commented, "Our first quarter operating results were stronger than we expected, driven by resilient pricing and lower costs in our Lower 48 drilling operations, as well as higher than forecast OEM repair revenue and energy transition revenue in our Rig Technologies segment. Rig count increased in our International segment, driven by rig startups in Saudi Arabia and Algeria, as part of our commitment to deploy seven rigs in these two countries during 2024. We have also received recent awards in Argentina for three more rigs. I believe we are in the midst of the largest opportunity that we've seen in the last decade to strengthen our international business. Pricing in the Lower 48 market remained firm, as utilization of our highest specification rigs stayed strong across several important markets. Average rig count increased compared to the prior quarter, but was slightly below our estimates, mainly reflecting activity reductions in natural gas basins. Results in our Drilling Solutions segment reflected reduced activity in the Lower 48, partially offset by better growth from international markets."