As previously reported, Morgan Stanley analyst Connor Lynagh upgraded Nabors Industries to Overweight from Equal Weight. Given his view that Permian constraints will "dominate the narrative" through the Q2 earnings season, and his belief that the Permian's regional weakness has potential to transmit to other basins, Lynagh recommends decreasing completions exposure and increasing land drilling exposure.

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."