Schlumberger (SLB) Surges 6.3%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?
Schlumberger (SLB) shares ended the last trading session 6.3% higher at $41.57. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 4.7% gain over the past four weeks.
The recent surge in oil prices, as OPEC and its allies have agreed for steep oil production cuts, primarily drove the stock. Higher oil price will continue to drive exploration and production activities. This in turn will increase demand for oilfield services of Schlumberger.
This world's largest oilfield services company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.54 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +50%. Revenues are expected to be $7.1 billion, up 21.5% from the year-ago quarter.
Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.
For Schlumberger, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on SLB going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
Schlumberger is part of the Zacks Oil and Gas - Field Services industry. FMC Technologies (FTI), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 1.9% higher at $9.26. FTI has returned 8.3% in the past month.
FMC Technologies' consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.09. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +250%. FMC Technologies currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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