The recent robust rally in shares of oil-services companies Halliburton and Schlumberger reportedly may be running out of fuel.
Since March 30, Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) have jumped 29% and 24% respectively, “despite a worsening near-term outlook for North America,” Wells Fargo analyst Christopher Voie said, according to Barron’s. He cut his rating on the stocks to Equal Weight from Overweight.
Voie expects fracking in North America to grind to a halt this year.
Voie doesn’t see many near-term gains for either stock from here. His price target for Halliburton is $8. The stock (HAL) fell 4.3% on Monday to $7.86. His target for Schlumberger is $18. That stock (SLB) lost 3.2% to $15.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4%.
Meanwhile, Whiting Petroleum Corp.’s bankruptcy shows how pain in the shale patch is reverberating throughout the oil supply chain, Bloomberg explained.
Schlumberger and Halliburton, which provide rigs and fracking crews, are listed as the biggest non-bank creditors in Whiting’s Chapter 11 filing, each with unsecured claims of more than $8 million a piece. Fellow oilfield servicer Baker Hughes Co. is the 8th largest creditor overall with an unsecured claim of $2.6 million. Other creditors include pipeline operators, a trucking company and a wastewater disposal company, among others.
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