This Is What Fueled C&J Energy Services Ltd.s 32.2% Plunge in September

What: September was a month to forget for C&J Energy Services as the stock was just hammered. While some of the downdraft was caused by persistently weak oil prices, which fell 8.5% last month, there were two other news items putting downward pressure on the stock: one from an analyst that covers the company and the other from C&J Energy Services itself.

So what: In the middle of the month, an analyst from Citi reiterated his cautious view on the oil-field service sector. The analyst now foresees a 15%-20% drop in E&P spending next year, which will hit smaller oil-field service stocks like C&J Energy Services very hard. In fact, the analyst projected that there would be "material negative revisions" across that sector of the industry.

That's exactly what C&J Energy Services did at the end of the month as it cut its third-quarter sales outlook. It now sees a 15% decline in sales over just last quarter. Further, C&J Energy Services also said that it had renegotiated the terms of its revolving credit facility with its lenders, resulting in its borrowing base dropping from $600 million to $400 million, slicing $200 million from its liquidity. This news also sliced a huge chunk off the company's market cap as we see in the following chart.

CJES data by YCharts.

Now what: It's a really tough market for oil-field services companies these days, especially smaller niche companies like C&J Energy Services. There are no signs on the horizon as to when conditions will improve and that lack of visibility is causing a lot of volatility. Investors can expect both of those trends to continue for the foreseeable future.

The article This Is What Fueled C&J Energy Services Ltd.s 32.2% Plunge in September originally appeared on Fool.com.

Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.