Schlumberger Swings To Profit, Shares Rise 0.4%

Shares of Schlumberger Ltd. rose 0.4% late Thursday after the oil-field services company reported third-quarter profit above expectations but sales that came in a hair below estimates. Schlumberger said it earned $176 million, or 13 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $989 million, or 78 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2015. Adjusted for one-time items, including charges related to its 2016 merger with Cameron International Corp., Schlumberger earned $353 million, or 25 cents a share, compared with 78 cents a share a year ago. Sales fell to $7.02 billion, from $8.47 billion in the year-ago period, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report adjusted earnings of 22 cents a share on sales of $7.09 billion. Shares ended the regular trading day down 0.5%.