Nabors Industries (NBR) was trading down about 1.5% after hours as the drilling contractor missed analysts’ earnings expectations.
Nabors posted 30 cents of EPS from continuing operations, 20 cents below expectations. Including one-time charges, the company lost $106 million. Revenue of $1.74 billion was slightly ahead of expectations for $1.72 billion.
The company said that a falloff in natural gas drilling activity will be balanced out by an increase in liquids drilling.
“Even though the recent weakness in natural gas prices may well result in a more rapid decrease in gas-related rig activity, we expect the effects of any such decrease and potential rate softness to be significantly offset by the deployment of 21 new rigs at higher average margins, coupled with the ongoing redeployment of rigs from dry gas areas to more active oil and liquids rich areas.”
