Halliburton Tops Q2 Expectations, Shares Gain

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) gained over 2 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.The Houston, Texas-based company posted quarterly net profit of $54 million, or $0.06 per share, down from $774 million, or $0.91 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, the company's adjusted earnings declined to $0.44 per share from $0.49 per share. Its revenue slipped to $5.92 billion from $8.05 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.29 per share on revenue of $5.8 billion. The average estimate among 27 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.32 per share and revenue of $5.90 billion.Completion and Production revenue in the second quarter declined to $3.4 billion from $4.9 billion in the year-earlier quarter, while Drilling and Evaluation revenue slipped to $2.5 billion from $3.1 billion."We are pleased with our second quarter results, considering the headwinds facing the industry," said Jeff Miller, President. "We expect the global markets will remain transitional, and in these times, operational execution is an even more critical source of differentiation. Our financial results reflect our strong execution culture, and we remain focused on delivering reliable, best-in-class service quality for our customers." Halliburton shares gained 2.28 percent to $40.90 in pre-market trading.