Energy

Why Halliburton Posted Smaller-Than-Expected Loss

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Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 results before markets opened Monday morning. For the quarter, the oil and gas services company posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.04 on revenues of $4.02 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.31 on revenues of $5.08 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to consensus estimates for EPS of $0.02 per share and $4.09 billion in revenues.

For the full year, the company reported an adjusted loss per share of $0.02 and revenues of $15.89 billion, compared with 2015 EPS of $1.56 and revenues of $23.63 billion. Analysts were looking for a per share net loss of $0.05 and revenues of $15.94 billion.

On a GAAP basis, the firm posted a quarterly net loss of $153 million ($0.17 per share), compared with a net loss of $28 million ($0.03 per share) in the fourth quarter of 2015. Adjusted net income totaled $35 million for the quarter, compared with $270 million in the same period last year. For the full year, the adjusted net loss was $16 million, compared with income of $1.33 billion in 2015.

In the quarter, North American revenue increased by 9% sequentially as the company posted an operating profit of $28 million, attributed to increased pricing and utilization throughout the United States land sector and effective cost management.

CEO Dave Lesar said:

[W]e returned to operating profitability in North America this quarter, and achieved 65% incremental margins. … In the international markets, low commodity prices have stressed budgets and have impacted economics across deepwater and mature field markets, which led to decreased activity and pricing throughout 2016. Despite these headwinds, we maintained our margin in the Eastern Hemisphere for the fourth quarter. We do not expect to see an inflection in the international markets until the latter half of 2017.

2016 was a year of transition, and as we move into 2017 our focus will be on driving industry leading returns. We will continue to maintain our financial flexibility, leverage our strong balance sheet to invest in our broad service portfolio and strengthen our long term market position.

The company did not provide detailed guidance in its earnings release, but first-quarter 2017 consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.11 on revenues of $4.32 billion. For the full year, EPS is forecast at $1.10 on revenues of $19.25 billion.

Halliburton’s stock closed at $56.45 on Friday, up about 2% for the day. Shares traded down 1.2% in Monday’s premarket session to $56.00. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $27.96 to $56.98. The consensus 12-month price target was $62.08 before the report.

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