Halliburton beats quarterly profit estimates as pricing improves

Oilfield firm Halliburton Co (HAL.N) on Tuesday reported a first quarter profit that topped Wall Street estimates as a tight services and equipment market have helped drive demand and improve its pricing.

Global oil futures are currently trading around $82 a barrel, down about 20% from a year ago but still higher than the price most companies need to drill profitably. Markets have been choppy in the past month, falling to around $70 a barrel amid concerns of a banking crisis before rebounding on a surprise cut by OPEC+.

“Our customers are clearly motivated to produce more oil and gas and service capacity is tight,” CEO Jeff Miller said in a statement. Halliburton is the largest provider of U.S. hydraulic fracturing equipment.

Revenue in its North America business was up 44% year-over-year to $2.8 billion, while its international revenue increased by 23% to $2.9 billion over that period.

It reported operating margin of 17.2%, an increase of 530 basis points year-over-year.

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