Liberty Oilfield Services Falls Short of Earnings Expectations

Liberty Oilfield Services (LBRT) reported quarterly earnings of $0.45 per share, falling short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.55 per share. This is a decline compared to earnings of $0.85 per share from the previous year, with these figures adjusted for non-recurring items.

This latest report equates to an earnings surprise of -18.18%. In the prior quarter, the company was anticipated to earn $0.60 per share, but it exceeded that with actual earnings of $0.61, yielding a positive surprise of 1.67%.

In the past four quarters, Liberty Oilfield Services has only surpassed consensus EPS estimates once.

Revenue Results and Future Outlook

As part of the Zacks Oil and Gas – Field Services industry, Liberty Oilfield Services posted revenues of $1.14 billion for the quarter ending September 2024. This figure also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.24% and represents a decrease from last year’s revenues of $1.22 billion. The company has struggled to meet consensus revenue estimates over the last year.

The stock’s immediate future performance will largely rely on management’s commentary during the earnings call, particularly regarding future earnings expectations.

So far in 2024, Liberty Oilfield Services shares have gained about 9.2%, which lags behind the S&P 500’s impressive 21.9% increase.

What Lies Ahead for Liberty Oilfield Services?

Although the company has underperformed relative to the market this year, investors are left wondering what the future holds for its stock. A useful indicator is the company’s earnings outlook. This includes current consensus earnings expectations for upcoming quarters along with any recent changes in these expectations.

Research indicates a significant correlation between short-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can monitor these revisions themselves or utilize tools like the Zacks Rank, which has a proven track record in forecasting stock movements based on earnings estimate changes.

Prior to this earnings release, the trend of estimate revisions for Liberty Oilfield Services was mixed. As a result, the stock is assigned a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold), meaning it’s expected to perform in line with the market in the near term. The current consensus for the next quarter is an EPS estimate of $0.43 with $1.06 billion in revenues, and a fiscal year estimate of $2.03 on $4.43 billion in revenues.

It is also crucial for investors to consider the broader industry outlook, as it can significantly influence stock performance. Currently, the Oil and Gas – Field Services industry ranks in the bottom 29% of over 250 Zacks industries. Historical data shows that the top 50% of Zacks-ranked industries typically outperform the bottom half by over two to one.

In the same industry, another company, Drilling Tools International Corp. (DTI), has yet to announce its earnings for the quarter ending September 2024. Analysts predict DTI will report quarterly earnings of $0.06 per share, reflecting a year-over-year decline of 57.1%. Its expected revenues of $41.7 million would mark a 9.3% increase compared to last year.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.