Susquehanna noted Nabors Industries' Q4 results beat Street estimates, but believes its international drilling business may prove to be a harbinger of further declines in its international operations. The firm continues to like Nabors for its broad geographical footprint, large international revenue backlog and relatively strong liquidity position. Susquehanna maintained its Positive rating and lowered its price target to $11 from $13 on Nabors Industries shares.

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."