Halliburton Tops Earnings Estimates On Strength In North America

Energy services company Halliburton Co. said Monday it had a net loss of $32 million, or 4 cents a share, in the first quarter, narrower than the $2.4 billion loss, or $2.81 a share, posted in the year-earlier period. Excluding costs related to the extinguishment of debt, the company had earnings per share of 4 cents, a penny ahead of the FactSet consensus. Revenue rose to $4.279 billion from $4.198 billion, compared with a FactSet consensus of $4.267 billion. "North America activity increased rapidly during the first quarter, which was highlighted by our U.S. land revenue growth of nearly 30%, outperforming the sequential average U.S. land rig count growth of 27%," Chief Executive Dave Lesar said in a statement. "In the international markets, activity declines due to seasonality were exacerbated by the current cyclical headwinds." Shares rose 1% in premarket trade, but are down 13% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 5%.