Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. PTEN provided on Wednesday an upbeat fourth-quarter earnings outlook, citing “more favorable pricing than expected” on renewals of drilling contracts. The oilfield services company said based on current projections, it expects net income to exceed $100 million, compared with the FactSet consensus of $72.4 million. The company also expected adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) to surpass $230 million, above the FactSet consensus of $206 million. Separately, the company said it spent $57.2 million to repurchase 3.3 million shares during the fourth quarter. “In contract drilling, average rig revenue per day benefited primarily from contract renewals with more favorable pricing than expected,” said Chief Executive Andy Hendricks. “Pressure pumping benefited from strong pricing and utilization, including downtime around the holidays that was less severe than we had forecasted, despite the inclement weather.” The stock, which is still inactive in premarket trading, has rallied 17.4% over the past three months, while the VanEck Oil Services ETF OIH has climbed 23.2% and the S&P 500 SPX has edged up 0.9%.
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