As previously reported, Societe Generale analyst Edward Muztafago made several ratings changes in the oil services space as he recommended rotating more fully into offshore and reducing U.S. land exposure. He views U.S. activity being poised for constrained growth following an anticipated recovery from "the current frac malaise," while believing offshore activity appears set to inflect, Muztafago tells investors. With that backdrop view, he upgraded Ensco (ESV), Noble Corp. (NE) and Oceaneering (OII), all to Buy from Hold, downgraded Halliburton (HAL) to Hold from Buy and lowered his rating on Weatherford (WFT) to Sell from Buy. Current U.S. challenges and the "stock market meltdown" create risk to Weatherford's asset divestiture plans that investors are so concerned about and "stumbles may not be well received," Muztafago stated.

The company states: "On a consolidated basis, second quarter 2024 operating results are expected to improve, with EBITDA in the range of $80 million to $90 million on a mid-teens percentage increase in revenue."

Reports Q1 revenue $599.1M, consensus $587.4M. Roderick A. Larson, CEO, stated, "We are encouraged by our first quarter 2024 results. Our adjusted EBITDA was higher than guided, on better-than-expected activity levels across our businesses. Compared to the same quarter last year, our consolidated first quarter 2024 operating income was 37% higher on a 12% increase in revenue, with higher revenue in all of our business segments and improved operating income in each segment except for our Offshore Projects Group (OPG). These results, when combined with our backlog and current levels of bidding activity, support our unchanged guidance for the year."

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.