Halliburton Beats Profit Expectations, But Sales Miss

Oil services giant Halliburton Co. reported a wider fourth-quarter net loss but an adjusted profit that beat expectations, although sales fell short. Losses for the quarter to Dec. 31 were $149 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with a loss of $28 million, or 3 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share were 4 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 2 cents. Revenue fell to $4.02 billion from $5.08 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $4.10 billion, as both completion and production and drilling and exploration revenue declined more than expected. North America revenue of $1.8 billion was below the FactSet consensus of $1.90 billion, but operating income swung to a profit of $28 million from a third-quarter loss of $66 million. "The North America market appears to have rounded the corner, but the international downward cycle is still playing out," said Chief Executive Dave Lesar. The stock, which slipped 0.1% in light premarket trade, has run up 87% over the past 12 months, while the VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF has climbed 52% and the S&P 500 has gained 19%.