Valued at a market cap of $22.4 billion, Halliburton Company (HAL) is one of the largest oilfield service providers in the world, offering a variety of equipment, maintenance, engineering, and construction services to the energy, industrial, and government sectors. The Houston, Texas-based company operates under two main segments: Completion and Production and Drilling and Evaluation.
Shares of this energy company have massively underperformed the broader market over the past 52 weeks. HAL has declined 26.8% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied 22.8%. Moreover, on a YTD basis, the stock is down 6.3%, compared to SPX’s 3.4% rise.
Narrowing the focus, HAL’s underperformance looks even more pronounced when compared to the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLE) 6% return over the past 52 weeks and 3.4% gain on a YTD basis.
On Jan. 22, shares of HAL fell 3.6% and closed down for five more consecutive trading sessions after its Q4 earnings release. The company’s adjusted earnings of $0.70 per share declined 18.6% from the year-ago quarter but came in line with the consensus estimates. However, its revenue declined 2.2% year-over-year to $5.6 billion and marginally missed the Wall Street estimates. Softer activity in the North American region, primarily driven by lower stimulation activity and decreased fluid services in the U.S. land and Canada, mainly contributed to its below-par performance.
Additionally, HAL cautioned that North American markets would remain soft sequentially in 2025, further pressuring investor sentiment and contributing to the stock’s extended decline.
For the current fiscal year, ending in December 2025, analysts expect Halliburton’s EPS to decline 10.7% year over year to $2.67. The company’s earnings surprise history is mixed. It surpassed or met the Wall Street estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing on another occasion.
Among the 25 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy,” which is based on 16 “Strong Buy,” one “Moderate Buy,” and eight “Hold” ratings.
This configuration is significantly less bullish than three months ago, with 19 analysts suggesting a “Strong Buy” rating.
On Jan. 23, Benchmark analyst Kurt Hallead maintained a “Buy” rating on Halliburton and cut its price target to $35, which indicates a 37.4% potential upside from the current levels.
The mean price target of $34.81 represents a 36.6% upside from HAL’s current price levels, while the Street-high price target of $43 suggests an upside potential of 68.7%.
On the date of publication, Neharika Jain did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.More news from Barchart
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