Helmerich & Payne reports Q1 EPS 94c, consensus 72c

Reports Q1 revenue $677.1M, consensus $662.2M. President and CEO John Lindsay commented, “The Company performed well both operationally and financially during the first fiscal quarter of 2024 despite the persistent volatility in crude oil and natural gas prices. During the quarter, the Company’s stock price continued to trade as it has historically, with a strong correlation to crude oil prices and industry rig count. Decoupling from these traditional macro measures will require proving our ability to maintain returns above our cost of capital through the cycles, and I believe our fiscal first quarter results are another step in that direction. Expectations for modest incremental rig adds during the quarter were further tempered to some extent by the ongoing churn we are experiencing in the market and, as a result, we exited the December quarter at 151 active rigs, towards the lower end of our guidance range. We expect this churn to continue in the March quarter as E&P budgets are being reset in a relatively weaker commodity price environment, particularly on the natural gas side. From a North America Solutions margin perspective, the Company delivered direct margins that were higher on a sequential basis, indicating that our direct margins, like our rig count, may have experienced a trough during our fourth fiscal quarter of 2023. Looking out, we project our North America Solutions direct margins to remain relatively flat to up slightly during the March quarter.”