Weatherford International Shares Drop After 2Q Meets Street Forecast but Disappoints Investors
HOUSTON -- Weatherford International Ltd. saw its shares slide in Thursday trading, a day after the oil field services contractor reported second-quarter profit that just met Wall Street's expectations.
Weatherford posted earnings of $186.8 million, or 52 cents per share, versus $95.2 million, or 32 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding a one-time charge, earnings were 53 cents per share -- in line with the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Revenue rose 64 percent to $1.54 billion from $937.3 million, slightly ahead of analysts' target of $1.52 billion.
Meeting Wall Street's forecast did little to inspire investors, who may have been hoping for a third straight quarter of better than expected results.
The company's shares dropped $2.35, or 4.8 percent, to $46.21 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has moved between $28.50 and $58.73 over the past year.
"We expect quarterly event-driven investors to be disappointed," said Merrill Lynch analyst Alan D. Laws, in a client note. "Bulls may focus on the stronger than expected international results; others could dwell on the weaker seasonal results from Canada."
Weatherford topped analyst estimates by 6 cents in the first quarter of 2006 and 3 cents in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Thomson Financial.
HOUSTON -- Weatherford International Ltd. saw its shares slide in Thursday trading, a day after the oil field services contractor reported second-quarter profit that just met Wall Street's expectations.
Weatherford posted earnings of $186.8 million, or 52 cents per share, versus $95.2 million, or 32 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding a one-time charge, earnings were 53 cents per share -- in line with the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Revenue rose 64 percent to $1.54 billion from $937.3 million, slightly ahead of analysts' target of $1.52 billion.
Meeting Wall Street's forecast did little to inspire investors, who may have been hoping for a third straight quarter of better than expected results.
The company's shares dropped $2.35, or 4.8 percent, to $46.21 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has moved between $28.50 and $58.73 over the past year.
"We expect quarterly event-driven investors to be disappointed," said Merrill Lynch analyst Alan D. Laws, in a client note. "Bulls may focus on the stronger than expected international results; others could dwell on the weaker seasonal results from Canada."
Weatherford topped analyst estimates by 6 cents in the first quarter of 2006 and 3 cents in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Thomson Financial.
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