Is Baker Hughes Ready to Cook? -- The Motley Fool
Is Baker Hughes Ready to Cook?
Like its oilfield services pals, Baker Hughes has given Fools reason to revisit the sector.
As earnings season winds down, it continues to appear that the oilfield services contingent deserves attention from Foolish investors. Oh, I know, black gold has backed off a little bit, but with all of Baker Hughes' (NYSE: BHI) segments and geographic areas showing profits, it becomes more difficult to argue for a long-term avoidance of the group.
Baker Hughes earned $129 million, or $0.41 per share, compared with earnings of $195 million, or $0.63 a year, earlier. The earlier quarter also included restructuring and acquisition-related expenses. Revenue in the most recent quarter was $2.54 billion, a 5% drop from the first quarter of 2009. Analysts who follow the company had expected a per-share figure of $0.38.
As was the case with other big services companies, including Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), Weatherford (NYSE: WFT), and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), on a year-on-year basis, Baker chalked up its strongest performance in North America. And while all the other locations rang up pre-tax profits, our own continent was the only spot where profits actually expanded.
As CEO Chad Deaton noted following the release of results, "Q1 was a good quarter for Baker Hughes. We delivered strong results in North America, with the increase in drilling activity and the benefits of a lean organization drove the improvement in our operating margins." As he also pointed out, the company closed on its acquisition of BJ Services last week, pending required asset sales; the two companies will continue to operate separately domestically.
Looking ahead, CFO Peter Ragauss told those on the company's call, "Looking forward to Q2, we believe that operating EPS on a combined basis will be in the low $0.40 range, including the impact of the spring break up in Canada, Gulf of Mexico issues, and the dilutive impact of a higher share count." We all know the Gulf issues that he was referring to. Hopefully we'll learn more about their specific consequences when Transocean (NYSE: RIG) reports after the market closes today and on the subsequent conference call.
In the meantime, Baker Hughes clearly delivered a solid quarter, as have the other large services companies. And with its new contributions from BJ Services, I'd urge fools to pay special attention to what I believe is a company on the move that may be getting unfairly punished by Mr. Market.
Fool contributor David Lee Smith doesn't own shares in any of the companies listed. But feel free to send him your comments or questions. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
Is Baker Hughes Ready to Cook? @themotleyfool #stocks $RIG, $SLB, $WFT, $HAL, $BHI
Is Baker Hughes Ready to Cook? -- The Motley Fool
Is Baker Hughes Ready to Cook?
Like its oilfield services pals, Baker Hughes has given Fools reason to revisit the sector.
As earnings season winds down, it continues to appear that the oilfield services contingent deserves attention from Foolish investors. Oh, I know, black gold has backed off a little bit, but with all of Baker Hughes' (NYSE: BHI) segments and geographic areas showing profits, it becomes more difficult to argue for a long-term avoidance of the group.
Baker Hughes earned $129 million, or $0.41 per share, compared with earnings of $195 million, or $0.63 a year, earlier. The earlier quarter also included restructuring and acquisition-related expenses. Revenue in the most recent quarter was $2.54 billion, a 5% drop from the first quarter of 2009. Analysts who follow the company had expected a per-share figure of $0.38.
As was the case with other big services companies, including Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), Weatherford (NYSE: WFT), and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), on a year-on-year basis, Baker chalked up its strongest performance in North America. And while all the other locations rang up pre-tax profits, our own continent was the only spot where profits actually expanded.
As CEO Chad Deaton noted following the release of results, "Q1 was a good quarter for Baker Hughes. We delivered strong results in North Am
erica, with the increase in drilling activity and the benefits of a lean organization drove the improvement in our operating margins." As he also pointed out, the company closed on its acquisition of BJ Services last week, pending required asset sales; the two companies will continue to operate separately domestically.
Looking ahead, CFO Peter Ragauss told those on the company's call, "Looking forward to Q2, we believe that operating EPS on a combined basis will be in the low $0.40 range, including the impact of the spring break up in Canada, Gulf of Mexico issues, and the dilutive impact of a higher share count." We all know the Gulf issues that he was referring to. Hopefully we'll learn more about their specific consequences when Transocean (NYSE: RIG) reports after the market closes today and on the subsequent conference call.
In the meantime, Baker Hughes clearly delivered a solid quarter, as have the other large services companies. And with its new contributions from BJ Services, I'd urge fools to pay special attention to what I believe is a company on the move that may be getting unfairly punished by Mr. Market.
Fool contributor David Lee Smith doesn't own shares in any of the companies listed. But feel free to send him your comments or questions. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
Is Baker Hughes Ready to Cook? @themotleyfool #stocks $RIG, $SLB, $WFT, $HAL, $BHI