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Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) closed -4.7% in Wednesday’s trading after saying it expects spending on drilling and well completion in North America will decline in 2024, more than offsetting international growth.
“In North America, activity continues to lag, and we are now anticipating no meaningful recovery in activity during the first half of the year,” CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said on the company post-earnings conference call.
Simonelli’s stance differs from rival oilfield services firms that have said they expect stable activity; Halliburton (HAL) ranked among the day’s top gainers on the S&P 500, +4.3%, and SLB (SLB) settled +2.5%.
The CEO said Baker Hughes (BKR) now expects North America spending will fall by the low to mid-single digits in 2024, and forecasts international oilfield spending rising by the high single-digits, down from its earlier outlook for low double-digit growth.
The company said it sees Q1 revenues in the $6.1B-$6.6B range, with the midpoint coming in below $6.51B analyst consensus estimate.
