-- SLB (SLB) reported mixed first-quarter results year-over-year on Friday, reflecting headwinds from the Middle East conflict.
The oilfield services company's adjusted per-share earnings fell to $0.52 for the March quarter from $0.72 a year earlier, while analysts in a FactSet poll expected $0.51. Revenue grew 3% to $8.72 billion and surpassed Wall Street's $8.63 billion estimate.
"It was a challenging start to the year as widespread disruptions in the Middle East impacted our business," Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch said in a statement. "The impact was most pronounced in well construction and reservoir performance, as SLB demobilized operations in a number of countries in response to customer actions to safeguard personnel and facilities."
Revenue in the well construction segment contracted 6% year over year to $2.8 billion, though it exceeded the consensus of $2.62 billion. The reservoir performance division's revenue dropped 6% to $1.59 billion. Digital revenue increased 9%, while production systems surged 23% to $3.51 billion.
"Beyond the Middle East, revenue increased year on year in all other markets driven mainly by the impact of our strategic moves regarding ChampionX, digital, and data center solutions," said Le Peuch. SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger, acquired rival ChampionX last year.
An extended ceasefire between the US and Iran following weeks of hostilities continues to hold. President Donald Trump said Thursday that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will also be extended. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has been one of the sticking points in US-Iran peace efforts.
"We entered 2026 anticipating that global liquid supply and demand would gradually rebalance throughout the year and into 2027," Le Peuch said. "However, the conflict in the Middle East has accelerated this rebalancing while exposing critical vulnerabilities in the global energy supply chain."
SLB's New York Stock Exchange-listed shares rose 2.4% in Friday trade. The stock has surged 46% since the start of the year.
"We expect post-conflict liquid commodity prices to remain above pre-conflict levels," Le Peuch said. "This reflects the near-term supply disruptions caused by infrastructure impairments, production impacts, and geopolitical risk premium."
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