Halliburton Tops Q1 Views

reported upbeat results for the first quarter. The Houston, Texas-based company posted a quarterly net loss of $643 million, or $0.76 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $622 million, or $0.73 per share. Excluding special items, Halliburton's income from continuing operations was $0.49 per share for the first quarter. Its revenue declined to $7.1 billion from $7.3 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $6.99 billion. Completion and Production revenue declined 4 percent year-over-year to $4.2 billion in the first quarter, while Drilling and Evaluation revenue fell 4 percent to $2.8 billion. Adjusted operating income slipped to $699 million in the first quarter, down from $970 million, in the year-ago quarter.

"Industry prospects will continue to be challenged in the coming quarters, and visibility to the ultimate depth and length of this cycle remains uncertain. We will continue to manage through this downturn focusing on reducing input costs, protecting our market position, and delivering the superior execution and solutions our customers have come to expect," said Dave Lesar, chairman and chief executive officer. The average estimate among 19 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.53 per share and revenue of $7.23 billion. Halliburton shares rose 0.02 percent to $46.90 in pre-market trading.