Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR) reported a loss for the third quarter, like its competitors Schlumberger and Halliburton, amid lower demand for drilling services and equipment after the oil price crash earlier this year.
Baker Hughes reported on Wednesday a loss per share of $0.25 for the quarter, compared to earnings per share of $0.11 for Q3 2019, as revenues for its oilfield services segment dropped by 31 percent year over year to $2.308 billion.
Adjusted for items and charges, the net result was earnings per share of $0.04, in line with the consensus analyst expectations.
Baker Hughes' total revenues for Q3 increased by 7 percent quarter-on-quarter and dropped by 14 percent year over year, which was a smaller decline than analysts had expected.
Following the release of the results, shares of Baker Hughes were up 1.39 percent on the NYSE, after adjusted earnings met expectations while revenue fell less than feared.
Baker Hughes' chairman and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli warned of volatility ahead as oil demand recovery appears to have stalled.
"After significant turmoil during the first half of the year, oil markets have somewhat stabilized. However, demand recovery is beginning to level off and significant excess capacity remains, which could create volatility in the future," Simonelli said in a statement.
"The outlook for natural gas is slightly more optimistic as forward prices have improved with strong demand in Asia and lower expected future gas production in the U.S.," the executive said.
Earlier this month, Schlumberger and Halliburton also reported losses for the third quarter.
Halliburton, the largest fracking services provider in North America, said this week it sees activity across the shale patch stabilizing. Schlumberger's CEO Olivier Le Peuch warned of a "fragile" near-term recovery but said, "In North America, the conditions are set for continued momentum, with improving DUC well completion activity in US land and a modest drilling resumption in the US and Canada."
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More