- 5 Oilfield Services Stocks Built for a Post-Hormuz World
May 12, 2026
When U.S. and Israeli forces launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran at the end of February, the energy market’s first question was how long the Strait of Hormuz would stay closed. Ten weeks later, that question is still open.
Brent is hovering near $107, Trump called Iran’s latest counterproposal “totally unacceptable” on Monday, and Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser has been warning the market that it is hemorrhaging roughly 100 million barrels of supply every week the blockade holds.
For oilfield services, the disruption has been disorienting in a very specific way. The Middle East was the growth market.
After years of North America leading the cycle on the back of shale, the mid-2010s brought a surge of international spending, and the Gulf was where the biggest contracts landed.
Saudi Aramco was running multi-billion-dollar expansion programs…
ADNOC was building out Abu Dhabi’s offshore infrastructure…
QatarEnergy was developing the North Field.
The large OFS players built their entire forward strategies around that geography. Then, almost overnight, those contracts went dark. SLB demobilized in Qatar after force majeure was declared. Offshore operations across the Persian Gulf were suspended.
The EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook pegs regional production shut-ins at 7.5 million barrels per day in March, rising to 9.1 million in April.
The obvious question is where the work goes instead, and the answer is already taking shape.
Brazil and Guyana are running deepwater programs that were going to continue regardless of what happened in Tehran. The Permian is starting to respond to the price signal, slowly but measurably. U.S. LNG export capacity is being built at a pace that every European importer who just lost access to Qatari gas is deeply grateful for. And the companies that happen to be particularly well positioned in those places are, not coincidentally, among the more interesting names in the sector right now.
Here are five worth a look.
SLB (NYSE: SLB)
The conventional read on SLB right now is that the company is too exposed to the Middle East to look attractive. On a pure Q1 basis, that’s not wrong. Middle East and Asia revenue fell 13% year over year and 17% sequentially, per the company’s release. SLB demobilized in Qatar after force majeure, pulled crews from Iraq, and shut down offshore operations across several countries for security reasons. EPS slipped from $0.58 to $0.50, and free cash flow turned slightly negative.
What that reading misses, though, is what SLB actually is at its core.
Story Continues
The company does not just drill wells; it provides the technology that makes reservoirs readable and the production systems that keep the oil flowing once it is found. In deepwater, that distinction matters enormously.
The majors drilling in Brazil and Guyana are not making short-cycle spending decisions that they will reverse the moment oil prices wobble. These are multi-billion-dollar infrastructure commitments with production timelines stretching decades.
Petrobras is building out the Santos Basin regardless of what is happening in the Persian Gulf.
Exxon’s Stabroek block in Guyana is on track to crack a million barrels per day this year with the Uaru startup, and the Whiptail project is already in development behind it. SLB is embedded in all of that.
The Q1 numbers reflect that shift.
Production Systems, the segment covering equipment going into these long-cycle deepwater wells, grew 23% year over year. The ChampionX acquisition added artificial lift and chemical injection technology to the portfolio, contributing both revenue and EBITDA cushion.
CEO Olivier Le Peuch made a quiet but important point on the earnings call: post-conflict commodity prices are going to stay above pre-conflict levels, because the supply capacity that has been lost takes years to rebuild.
Long-cycle deepwater investment does not stop because the Persian Gulf is temporarily inaccessible. In fact, based on what is happening in Brazil and Guyana, it is accelerating.
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL)
To understand why Halliburton is interesting right now, it helps to understand how North American shale actually works.
Unlike conventional oil projects, which require years of planning and enormous upfront capital, shale is short-cycle.
Operators can go from a drilling decision to first production in a matter of months. The bottleneck is fracturing capacity, the hydraulic fracturing fleets that pump fluid into rock formations at high pressure to release trapped oil.
Halliburton controls more of that capacity in North America than any other company, which means that when oil prices rise sharply and operators want to accelerate, Halliburton is one of the first calls they make.
CEO Jeff Miller said on the Q1 call that white space in the frac calendar is “all but gone” for Q2, and that his team is fielding an uptick in inbound calls for spot work.
The Q1 numbers themselves were solid: revenue of $5.4 billion, flat year over year, per the company’s release, net income more than doubled to $461 million, and EPS of $0.55 beat estimates. North America revenue dipped 4% to $2.1 billion, reflecting the pricing pressure that has been working through the system for two years, but the direction is changing.
The producer side is sending the same message.
Diamondback Energy, the third-largest Permian operator, told shareholders this week it is abandoning the capital discipline framework it has followed for the past year and adding both rigs and frac crews. ConocoPhillips raised capex guidance.
Continental Resources reversed a planned 20% spending cut. If even a fraction of the public operators follow through, Halliburton is the most direct beneficiary in the services sector, and the Middle East drag on Q1 EPS was all of two to three cents.
The caveat worth taking seriously: the Dallas Fed’s latest energy survey showed plenty of E&P executives still skeptical that today’s prices will hold long enough to justify major investment decisions.
The memory of $57 oil at the start of the year is fresh, and the volatility of the past three months has made some operators cautious where others are becoming bold. The shale response is real, but it is still measured. Halliburton is a bet that the measured response becomes a more aggressive one.
Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR)
Baker Hughes made a strategic decision several years ago that looks quite smart right now.
The company has been deliberately repositioning itself from an oilfield services business into an energy technology company, with its Industrial & Energy Technology segment, which makes gas turbines, compressors, and the infrastructure that powers LNG terminals and industrial facilities, now the dominant part of the portfolio.
That pivot is generating results that would be difficult to achieve with a more conventional OFS strategy, and the current crisis is making the logic of it clearer by the quarter.
Q1 revenue of $6.59 billion beat estimates by $260 million. The IET segment posted $4.9 billion in orders, its third consecutive quarter above $4 billion, driving a record IET backlog of $33.1 billion, per the company’s release. Total orders were up 26% year over year.
The traditional Oilfield Services and Equipment segment fell 7% on Middle East disruptions. Nobody on the earnings call spent much time on it.
The headline contract of the quarter was a significant LNG equipment award from QatarEnergy for the North Field West project: six Frame 9 gas turbines, 12 centrifugal compressors, and integrated power solutions across two mega trains totaling 16 MTPA of capacity.
There is a strange logic to this that is worth sitting with for a moment.
Qatar cannot currently ship any LNG because the Strait of Hormuz is closed, and QatarEnergy has declared force majeure on contracts with buyers around the world. Yet the country is simultaneously awarding multi-billion-dollar equipment contracts to build more LNG export capacity.
The reason is that the North Field West project will not be operational for years; the long-cycle infrastructure investment continues regardless of the near-term disruption, and Baker Hughes builds the turbines that power it.
On top of the Qatar award, the company signed an agreement to supply gas compression and power generation equipment for an 8.4 MTPA LNG export terminal off Texas, exactly the kind of U.S. supply capacity that nervous European and Asian importers are now scrambling to lock in.
Baker Hughes wins both sides of that trade: the long-cycle Qatari rebuild contracts, and the near-term U.S. export buildout. Full-year guidance sits at $27.1 billion in revenue and EPS of $2.47.
Transocean (NYSE: RIG)
There is a structural feature of the offshore drilling market that matters a great deal right now, and it is easy to miss if you are just looking at the headline numbers.
You cannot build a high-specification drillship quickly.
A modern ultra-deepwater vessel takes roughly three years to construct and costs north of $500 million. After the oil price collapse of 2014 through 2016, the industry stopped ordering them. Dozens of older rigs were scrapped. Companies that relied on mid-water equipment lost contracts and went bankrupt. The fleet of capable assets shrank dramatically, and remained small through the slow recovery that followed.
The consequence of that structural thinning is that there are now very few rigs capable of drilling in deep water, at precisely the moment when the deepwater plays in Brazil and Guyana have become the most strategically important new sources of supply in the world.
Petrobras needs drillships to keep building out the Santos Basin. Exxon needs them in Guyana. The operators chasing long-cycle deepwater projects everywhere outside the Persian Gulf need them, and there are not many to go around. Transocean has 20 ultra-deepwater floaters and seven harsh-environment rigs, and that fleet is essentially fully committed.
The Q1 numbers reflect that tightness directly. Contract drilling revenue was $1.08 billion, up 19% year over year. Average daily revenue hit $476,000, the highest in over a decade. Adjusted EBITDA margin exceeded 40%.
Since the quarter ended, the company has added $1.6 billion in new backlog at a weighted average day rate of roughly $410,000, per the May 4 fleet status report, taking total backlog to $7.1 billion. Most of that is in Brazil: Petrobras extended the Deepwater Corcovado for 1,156 days through November 2030, the Deepwater Orion for three years, and the Deepwater Aquila for another year. The Transocean Barents also locked in three years with Vår Energi in Norway.
It is worth being honest about the gap between the operational story and the financial one.
Net income was just $71 million on $1.08 billion in revenue, and free cash flow was $136 million. Transocean carries a substantial debt load, the legacy of years of contracted liability through the downcycle, and though the company retired $358 million in Deepwater Titan notes in March and is actively refinancing using the backlog as collateral, the income statement still looks underwhelming against the revenue figures.
The case for buying RIG is the backlog, the day rate trend, and the structural scarcity of the assets. It is not the current income statement.
Liberty Energy (NYSE: LBRT)
Every list like this needs a name that makes readers stop and say “wait, really?” Liberty is that name. It is small, it does one thing, and it has zero exposure to the Middle East and total exposure to the North American shale rebound that all four of the other companies on this list are counting on to varying degrees.
Q1 beat expectations quite convincingly. Revenue of $1.02 billion was up 4% year over year, EPS of $0.06 significantly exceeded a consensus that had modeled a loss of $0.13, and the stock jumped nearly 10% on the print.
The underlying margin picture is less tidy: EBITDA of $126 million was down 25% year over year, reflecting the pricing pressure that has been grinding through North American completions for the better part of three years.
CEO Ron Gusek’s answer to that pressure is technology. The company has built a software platform called StimCommander that automates rate and pressure control across its fleets in real time, and a cloud-based optimization system called Forge that aggregates performance data to continuously improve efficiency.
Three straight quarters of beating lowballed numbers suggests that approach is working, even if the margin recovery has been slower than the revenue story implies.
The balance sheet move from Q1 is also worth paying attention to. Liberty issued $1.3 billion in zero-coupon convertible notes and ended the quarter with $699 million in cash, which is a meaningful amount of capital for a company with a sub-$3 billion market cap. Management has been clear that power generation is the next growth leg they are building toward, and the dry powder is in place to pursue it.
If the Permian recovery stalls, or if prices fall faster than expected once the Hormuz situation eventually resolves, Liberty is where the pain shows up most visibly.
There is no international business to cushion the blow, no long-cycle backlog to fall back on. But that same concentration, which creates the downside risk, is exactly what makes the stock interesting if the early-innings thesis is right.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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- SLB Ltd (SLB) Stock Up 4.5% but GF Value Says Overvalued -- GF Score: 81/100
May 12, 2026 · gurufocus.com
On May 12, 2026, SLB Ltd (SLB) shares rose 4.5% today, bringing the current price to $55.64. The stock has experienced a 52-week range of $31.64 to $57.20, show
- Global Supply Shock Reignites Oil Exploration Boom
May 12, 2026
As the world grapples with the most serious oil and gas supply crunch in history, energy security has come front and center for every government on the planet. Some have touted electrification as a way of weathering the crisis and avoiding future ones. Realists, both in politics and industry, however, are focusing on what the oil and gas industry has been warning about for years: the need for more investment in exploration.
“Production and recovery represent the most immediate path to incremental barrels, and as customers continue to prioritize energy security and national resource development, investment in this space is set to grow,” the chief executive of SLB, Olivier Le Peuch, said at the company’s first-quarter financial results presentation last month.
The head of SLB’s rival Baker Hughes had an almost identical message: “While the conflict presents near-term challenges, it is further reinforcing energy security as a priority, which is expected to support structural growth in upstream and global energy infrastructure spending,” Lorenzo Simonelli said in Baker Hughes’ quarterly results release.
For oilfield service companies, expectations of more exploration and production are the best-case scenario, of course, but it is not just oilfield service majors that expect the war in the Middle East to provide a boost for oil and gas exploration. It’s the explorers and producers as well.
Related: Reuters Survey Shows OPEC Oil Output At 26-Year Low Amid Iran War
“Obviously, people are going to reassess their energy security and how they ensure that, going forward, they don’t have the same exposure,” Exxon’s Darren Woods said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call. Woods noted that a lot of countries that did not previously have strategic petroleum reserves would start thinking about building some, driving new demand for oil while the search for alternative sources of energy imports intensifies.
For the U.S. shale industry, it’s U.S. oil that is saving the day for the world. Indeed, U.S. oil exports are running at all-time highs, but it’s not as simple as swapping Emirati or Iraqi crude for Permian crude—which is why not everyone is rushing to the Permian. The fact that these record exports are pushing domestic retail fuel prices higher, meanwhile, suggests there is a limit to the industry response to the global supply crunch. Some are, in fact, looking to Africa as a source of new oil and gas supply.
“Africa [represents] one of the most compelling long-term opportunities, with a significant base of underdeveloped oil and gas resources,” SLB’s Le Peuch said. “We expect portfolio allocation to shift more favorably towards this region over time.”
Story Continues
Indeed, Africa could emerge as one of the biggest long-term winners from the war in the Middle East thanks to its substantial underdeveloped oil and gas reserves, combined with the absence of the sort and intensity of tension present in the Middle East. Indeed, Oilprice.com earlier reported that energy importers from Europe and Asia are now looking at African crude and gas, appreciating lower insurance premiums and more predictable delivery times thanks to the absence of a hot war and waterway blockades.
The same is true of other parts of the world, such as, of course, the Americas. The U.S. shale patch is going to continue to attract a lot of investment, as producers generation an extra $63.4 billion in cash flow this year alone, according to Rystad Energy. The company forecast earlier in the war that benchmark prices above $100 per barrel would fatten the cash flows of shale drillers. From this, it could be extrapolated that appetite for investment in output growth would be stronger—especially with a view to securing long-term supply alternatives to Middle East oil and gas flows.
The discussion of alternative sources of supply reflects a major change in sentiment over the past two months. In March, most analysts and oil and gas executives saw the Strait of Hormuz paralysis as a short-term obstacle to flows, unlikely to last over three weeks. Now, two months later, expectations are very different, with some commodity analysts modeling for oil and gas flow disruption beyond the end of June.
It would be safe to say that the longer this unprecedented energy supply disruption continues, the greater industry interest would grow into new investment destinations far from the Middle East. It will not be all about simply boosting oil and gas production, either. The change in the energy industry would be structural and possibly permanent, regardless of when the war ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
“It's going to be about diversifying the energy mix and making it more durable. And so you're going to see a theme of increased investment in other areas also,” Baker Hughes’ Lorenzo Simonelli said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “It's not just about increasing energy supply. It's about the robust and resilient energy infrastructure and greater redundancy, diversifying infrastructure, reducing reliance on any single large scale assets.”
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Oilprice Intelligence brings you the signals before they become front-page news. This is the same expert analysis read by veteran traders and political advisors. Get it free, twice a week, and you'll always know why the market is moving before everyone else.
You get the geopolitical intelligence, the hidden inventory data, and the market whispers that move billions - and we'll send you $389 in premium energy intelligence, on us, just for subscribing. Join 400,000+ readers today. Get access immediately by clicking here.
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- SLB Ltd (SLB) Stock Up 3.1% but GF Value Says Overvalued -- GF Score: 81/100
May 11, 2026 · gurufocus.com
On May 11, 2026, SLB Ltd (SLB) shares rose 3.1% to a current price of $54.93. This move comes in the context of a 52-week range that has seen the stock hit a hi
- Kinder Morgan jumps 3% after six straight sessions of losses
May 11, 2026
[Crude oil storage tanks at the Kinder Morgan terminal in Abbotsford British Columbia]
todamo
Kinder Morgan (KMI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KMI]) was on track to snap six straight sessions of losses on Monday as its shares rose 2.29% to trade at $32.13, in tandem with rising oil prices.
Oil stocks, including Exxon Mobil (XOM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XOM]), Chevron (CVX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CVX]), ConocoPhillips (COP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COP]), and SLB (SLB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SLB]), also gained after U.S. President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was "on life support." Their prices were up around 2% to 3% each during afternoon trading.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump dismissed Iran’s response to last week’s U.S. proposal as “garbage,” saying he “didn’t even finish reading it.” Reports suggest Tehran sought sanctions relief and an end to Washington’s naval blockade while aiming to retain some influence over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Prior to Monday’s gains, Kinder Morgan shares had been falling since May 1. It lost more than 3% in between May 1 and May 8. On a YTD basis, however, shares of the oil company have risen 16% in stark comparison to a nearly 8% rise in the wider S&P 500 index.
Looking at Seeking Alpha’s quant rating, KMI has been rated a Hold with a score of 3.30 out of 5. It has been rated an A- for its profitability but a D for its valuation and growth. Seeking Alpha analysts, on the other hand, were bullish on the stock and recommended to Buy it. Wall Street analysts mirrored a similar sentiment with a Buy call.
Seeking Alpha analyst The Asian Investor [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4894317-kinder-morgan-a-top-income-pick-for-2026] rated the stock as a Strong Buy following its strong Q1 earnings, driven by robust natural gas demand.
The analyst expects KMI to remain a top pick for income investors, with dividend safety and upside tied to natural gas demand and U.S. data center expansion.
“…growing natural gas demand, in part driven by a growing U.S.-based data center footprint, translates into attractive earnings prospects for investors seeking recurring dividend income from an investment-grade-rated midstream platform that is tilted towards natural gas deliveries,” the analyst wrote about Kinder Morgan.
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* Kinder Morgan: A Top Income Pick For 2026 [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4894317-kinder-morgan-a-top-income-pick-for-2026]
* Kinder Morgan: Thank Storm Fern And All Of The Cold Weather After That [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4893772-kinder-morgan-thank-storm-fern-and-all-of-the-cold-weather-after-that]
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* Kinder Morgan tops Q1 estimates as gas demand surge offsets lower fuel volumes [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4578374-kinder-morgan-tops-q1-estimates-as-gas-demand-surge-offsets-lower-fuel-volumes]
- SLB's Tough Quarter Masks a Powerful Long-Term Shift
May 8, 2026 · marketbeat.com
On April 25, SLB NYSE: SLB reported one of its more difficult quarters in years. Yet that may be the least important thing about this oilfield services leader, formerly known as Schlumberger.
- Ariel Focus Fund Q1 2026 Performers And Detractors
May 7, 2026 · seekingalpha.com
APA Corporation was the top contributor during the quarter. SLB Limited advanced during the quarter as investors grew more confident. Fiserv declined over the quarter despite reporting inline earnings results.
- SLB: A High-Tech Way To Play The Oil Industry
May 7, 2026 · seekingalpha.com
SLB N.V. remains a soft Buy despite near-term headwinds, supported by resilient technology-driven segments and solid Q1 2026 results. Digital and Production Systems segments are delivering high-margin growth, offsetting declines in Reservoir Performance and Well Construction due to geopolitical disruptions. Q1 2026 revenue beat expectations at $8.72 billion, with profitability in line, though some segments face pricing and activity pressures from the Iran conflict.
- S&P 500 Reverses After Hitting Record High as Oil Prices Bounce Back
May 7, 2026
The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) today is down -0.40%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) is down -0.51%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) is down -0.28%.
Equity markets retreated this afternoon, erasing earlier gains as a resurgence in crude oil prices weighed on sentiment. While the international Brent benchmark saw a slight dip yet remained above $100, U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures surged past the $95-per-barrel mark.Join 200K+ Subscribers: Find out why the midday Barchart Brief newsletter is a must-read for thousands daily.
US weekly initial unemployment claims rose +10,000 to 200,00, showing a stronger labor market than expectations of 205,000. Weekly continuing claims unexpectedly fell -10,000 to a 2.25-year low of 1.766 million, showing a stronger labor market than expectations of an increase to 1.800 million.
US Q1 nonfarm productivity rose +0.8%, stronger than expectations of +0.6%. Q1 unit labor costs rose +2.3%, weaker than expectations of +2.5%
Fed comments today were slightly hawkish and negative for stocks and bonds. Boston Fed President Susan Collins said interest rates should stay at current "mildly restrictive" levels, but “if the inflation trajectory looked like it was significantly moving in the wrong direction," policymakers would "need to reassess what the appropriate policy would be." Also, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said the FOMC's signal that the next rate move will be a cut is misleading, and her baseline is that interest rates will be on hold for a long period.
The markets are awaiting further updates after the US presented a proposal to Iran that would gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the US blockade on Iranian ports. Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program would come later in the process. Iran is expected to respond via Pakistan in the next few days.
The markets are discounting a 6% chance of a -25 bp FOMC rate cut at the next FOMC meeting on June 16-17.
Earnings results thus far in this reporting season have been supportive of stocks. As of today, 84% of the 411 S&P 500 companies that reported Q1 earnings have beaten estimates. Q1 S&P 500 earnings are projected to climb +12% y/y, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Stripping out the technology sector, Q1 earnings are projected to increase around +3%, the weakest in two years.
Overseas stock markets are mixed today. The Euro Stoxx 50 fell from a 2.5-week high and is down -0.57%. China's Shanghai Composite rallied to a 2-month high and closed up +0.08%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average soared to a record high, finishing sharply higher by +5.58%.
Interest Rates
June 10-year T-notes (ZNM6) today are up by +4 ticks. The 10-year T-note yield is down -1.1 bp to 4.338%. Jun T-notes climbed to a 1-week high today, and the 10-year T-note yield fell to a 1.5-week low of 4.319%. T-notes have support today from weaker crude prices, which ease inflation expectations. The 10-year breakeven inflation rate fell to a 2-week low of 2.415% today. Also, today’s reports showing Q1 nonfarm productivity was better than expected, and Q1 labor costs were weaker than expected, were supportive of T-notes.
Gains in T-notes are limited due to today’s weekly jobless claims report, which showed strength in the US labor market, a hawkish factor for Fed policy. Also, hawkish Fed comments today weighed on T-note prices after Boston Fed President Susan Collins and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said they favored keeping interest rates on hold.
European government bond yields are moving lower today. The 10-year German Bund yield fell to a 2-week low of 2.957% and is down -1.5 bp to 2.985%. The 10-year UK gilt yield fell to a 2-week low of 4.886% and is down -2.8 bp to 4.912%.
Eurozone Mar retail sales fell -0.1% m/m, a smaller decline than expectations of -0.3% m/m.
German Mar factory orders rose +5.0% m/m, stronger than expectations of +1.0% m/m.
Swaps are discounting a 79% chance of a +25 bp ECB rate hike at its next policy meeting on June 11.
US Stock Movers
Datadog (DDOG) is up more than +30% to lead software stocks higher and gainers in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 after reporting Q1 revenue of $1.01 billion, better than the consensus of $957.8 million, and raising its full-year revenue estimate to $4.30 billion to $4.34 billion from a previous estimate of $4.06 billion to $4.10 billion, well above the consensus of $4.09 billion. Also, ServiceNow (NOW) and Workday (WDAY) are up more than +6%, and Atlassian (TEAM) and Intuit (INTU) are up more than +5%. In addition, Autodesk (ADSK) is up by more than +4%, and Salesforce (CRM) is up more than +3% to lead gainers in the Dow Jones industrials. Finally, Microsoft (MSFT), Oracle (ORCL), and Adobe (ADBE) are up more than +2%.
Fortinet (FTNT) is up more than +23% to lead cybersecurity stocks higher after reporting Q1 billings of $2.09 billion, well above the consensus of $1.82 billion, and raising its full-year billings forecast to $8.80 billion to $9.10 billion from a previous forecast of $8.40 billion to $8.60 billion, stronger than the consensus of $8.49 billion. Also, Zscaler (ZS) is up more than +9%, and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) are up more than +7%. In addition, and Okta (OKTA) is up more than +5%, and Cloudflare (NET) is up more than +3%.
Energy producers and service providers are moving lower today with WTI crude oil prices down more than -4%. APA Corp (APA) is down more than -6%, and Baker Hughes (BKR) is down more than -5%. Also, Devon Energy (DVN), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), and Diamondback Energy (FANG) are down more than -4%. In addition, SLB Ltd (SLB), Phillips 66 (PSX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Halliburton (HAL), and Valero Energy (VLO) are down more than -3%. Finally, Chevron (CVX) is down more than -2% to lead losers in the Dow Jones industrials, and Exxon Mobil (XOM) is also down more than -2%.
Axon Enterprises (AXON) is up more than +13% after reporting Q1 net sales of $807 million, above the consensus of $779.2 million.
Albemarle (ALB) is up more than +9% after reporting Q1 net sales of $1.43 billion, above the consensus of $1.34 billion.
Ormat Technologies (ORA) is up more than +9% after reporting Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.30, stronger than the consensus of 92 cents.
Howmet Aerospace (HWM) is up more than +8% after reporting Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.22, above the consensus of $1.11, and raising its full-year adjusted EPS forecast to $4.88-$5.00 from a previous forecast of $4.35-$4.55, stronger than the consensus of $4.63.
AppLovin (APP) is up more than +6% after reporting Q1 revenue of $1.84 billion, better than the consensus of $1.77 billion, and forecasting Q2 revenue of $1.92 billion to $1.95 billion, stronger than the consensus of $1.89 billion.
MKS Inc. (MKSI) is up more than +3% after reporting Q1 net revenue of $1.08 billion, better than the consensus of $1.04 billion.
Zoetis (ZTS) is down more than -21% to lead losers in the S&P 500 after reporting Q1 revenue of $2.26 billion, weaker than the consensus of $2.30 billion.
Insmed (INSM) is down more than -17% to lead losers in the Nasdaq 100 after forecasting full-year product revenue of $1.0 billion, below the consensus of $1.3 billion.
Whirlpool (WHR) is down more than -13% after reporting Q1 net sales of $3.27 billion, weaker than the consensus of $3.42 billion, and cutting its full-year revenue forecast to $15.0 billion from a previous forecast of $15.3-$15.6 billion, below the consensus of $15.21 billion.
ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) is down more than -7% after reporting Q4 royalty revenue of $671 million, below the consensus of $693.3 million.
Coherent Corp (COHR) is down more than -5% after reporting a Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.41, right on expectations.
US Foods Holding (USFD) is down more than -4% after reporting Q1 net sales of $9.61 billion, below the consensus of $9.66 billion.
Earnings Reports(5/7/2026)
Airbnb Inc (ABNB), Akamai Technologies Inc (AKAM), Becton Dickinson & Co (BDX), Block Inc (XYZ), Charles River Laboratories Int (CRL), Coinbase Global Inc (COIN), Consolidated Edison Inc (ED), Corpay Inc (CPAY), Datadog Inc (DDOG), EPAM Systems Inc (EPAM), Evergy Inc (EVRG), Expedia Group Inc (EXPE), Gen Digital Inc (GEN), Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD), Howmet Aerospace Inc (HWM), Kenvue Inc (KVUE), McDonald's Corp (MCD), McKesson Corp (MCK), Mettler-Toledo International Inc (MTD), Microchip Technology Inc (MCHP), Monster Beverage Corp (MNST), Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI), News Corp (NWSA), Republic Services Inc (RSG), Sempra (SRE), Tapestry Inc (TPR), Targa Resources Corp (TRGP), Trade Desk Inc/The (TTD), Viatris Inc (VTRS), Vistra Corp (VST), WW Grainger Inc (GWW), Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN), Zoetis Inc (ZTS).
On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
- Stocks Mixed Awaiting an Iran Update
May 7, 2026
The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) today is down -0.05%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) is down -0.02%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) is up +0.20%. June E-mini S&P futures (ESM26) are down -0.03%, and June E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQM26) are up +0.23%.
Stock indexes are mixed today, with the Nasdaq 100 posting a new all-time high. Crude oil prices are down more than -4% today, supporting stocks and bonds as the markets await updates on a potential US-Iran peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Better-than-expected corporate earnings results are also lifting stocks, powered by tech earnings and high expectations for artificial intelligence. Strength in software stocks is leading the Nasdaq 100 higher as Datadog surged more than +30% after reporting blowout earnings.Join 200K+ Subscribers: Find out why the midday Barchart Brief newsletter is a must-read for thousands daily.
Stocks also found support on today’s economic news that showed signs of a stable labor market, better-than-expected productivity, and weaker-than-expected labor costs.
US weekly initial unemployment claims rose +10,000 to 200,00, showing a stronger labor market than expectations of 205,000. Weekly continuing claims unexpectedly fell -10,000 to a 2.25-year low of 1.766 million, showing a stronger labor market than expectations of an increase to 1.800 million.
US Q1 nonfarm productivity rose +0.8%, stronger than expectations of +0.6%. Q1 unit labor costs rose +2.3%, weaker than expectations of +2.5%
The markets are awaiting further updates after the US presented a proposal to Iran that would gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the US blockade on Iranian ports. Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program would come later in the process. Iran is expected to respond via Pakistan in the next few days.
WTI crude oil prices (CLM26) are down by more than -4% today, but remain above Wednesday’s 2-week low, after a post from Al Arabiya, a Saudi-affiliated outlet, that said agreements were reached on easing the US naval blockade of Iran in exchange for a gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The strait remains essentially closed, as about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transits through the strait. Goldman Sachs estimates that the current disruption has drawn down nearly 500 million bbl from global crude stockpiles, with the drawdown potentially reaching 1 billion bbl by June.
The markets are discounting a 6% chance of a -25 bp FOMC rate cut at the next FOMC meeting on June 16-17.
Earnings results thus far in this reporting season have been supportive of stocks. As of today, 84% of the 411 S&P 500 companies that reported Q1 earnings have beaten estimates. Q1 S&P 500 earnings are projected to climb +12% y/y, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Stripping out the technology sector, Q1 earnings are projected to increase around +3%, the weakest in two years.
Overseas stock markets are mixed today. The Euro Stoxx 50 climbed to a 2.5-week high and is up +0.29%. China's Shanghai Composite rallied to a 2-month high and closed up +0.08%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average soared to a record high, finishing sharply higher by +5.58%.
Interest Rates
June 10-year T-notes (ZNM6) today are up by +7 ticks. The 10-year T-note yield is down -2.9 bp to 4.321%. Jun T-notes climbed to a 1-week high today, and the 10-year T-note yield fell to a 1.5-week low of 4.319%. T-notes have support today from weaker crude prices, which eases inflation expectations. Also, today’s reports showing Q1 nonfarm productivity was better than expected, and Q1 labor costs were weaker than expected, were supportive for T-notes.
Gains in T-notes are limited due to today’s weekly jobless claims report, which showed strength in the US labor market, a hawkish factor for Fed policy. Also, hawkish comments today from Boston Fed President Susan Collins were negative for T-notes, as she said interest rates should stay at current "mildly restrictive" levels.
European government bond yields are moving lower today. The 10-year German Bund yield fell to a 2-week low of 2.960% and is down -3.8 bp to 2.961%. The 10-year UK gilt yield fell to a 2-week low of 4.889% and is down -4.8 bp to 4.891%.
Eurozone Mar retail sales fell -0.1% m/m, a smaller decline than expectations of -0.3% m/m.
German Mar factory orders rose +5.0% m/m, stronger than expectations of +1.0% m/m.
Swaps are discounting a 79% chance of a +25 bp ECB rate hike at its next policy meeting on June 11.
US Stock Movers
Datadog (DDOG) is up more than +30% to lead software stocks higher and gainers in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 after reporting Q1 revenue of $1.01 billion, better than the consensus of $957.8 million, and raising its full-year revenue estimate to $4.30 billion to $4.34 billion from a previous estimate of $4.06 billion to $4.10 billion, well above the consensus of $4.09 billion. Also, ServiceNow (NOW) is up more than +5%, and Workday (WDAY) and Atlassian (TEAM) are up more than +4%. In addition, Salesforce (CRM) is up more than +2% to lead gainers in the Dow Jones industrials, and Microsoft (MSFT), Autodesk (ADSK), Oracle (ORCL), and Intuit (INTU) are up more than +2%.
Fortinet (FTNT) is up more than +23% to lead cybersecurity stocks higher after reporting Q1 billings of $2.09 billion, well above the consensus of $1.82 billion, and raising its full-year billings forecast to $8.80 billion to $9.10 billion from a previous forecast of $8.40 billion to $8.60 billion, stronger than the consensus of $8.49 billion. Also, Zscaler (ZS) is up more than +9%, and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is up more than +8%. In addition, CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) and Okta (OKTA) are up more than +6%, and Cloudflare (NET) is up more than +1%.
Energy producers and service providers are moving lower today with WTI crude oil prices down more than -4%. APA Corp (APA) is down more than -5%, and Baker Hughes (BKR) is down more than -4%. Also, Devon Energy (DVN), Diamondback Energy (FANG), and SLB Ltd (SLB) are down more than -3%, and ConocoPhillips (COP), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Halliburton (HAL), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), and Valero Energy (VLO) are down more than -2%.
Albemarle (ALB) is up more than +13% after reporting Q1 net sales of $1.43 billion, above the consensus of $1.34 billion.
Howmet Aerospace (HWM) is up more than +7% after reporting Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.22, above the consensus of $1.11, and raising its full-year adjusted EPS forecast to $4.88-$5.00 from a previous forecast of $4.35-$4.55, stronger than the consensus of $4.63.
Ormat Technologies (ORA) is up more than +6% after reporting Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.30, stronger than the consensus of 92 cents.
MKS Inc. (MKSI) is up more than +6% after reporting Q1 net revenue of $1.08 billion, better than the consensus of $1.04 billion.
DoorDash (DASH) is up more than +3% after reporting Q1 gross order value of $32.4 billion, above the consensus of $31.21 billion.
Zoetis (ZTS) is down more than -21% to lead losers in the S&P 500 after reporting Q1 revenue of $2.26 billion, weaker than the consensus of $2.30 billion.
Insmed (INSM) is down more than -13% to lead losers in the Nasdaq 100 after forecasting full-year product revenue of $1.0 billion, below the consensus of $1.3 billion.
Whirlpool (WHR) is down more than -13% after reporting Q1 net sales of $3.27 billion, weaker than the consensus of $3.42 billion, and cutting its full-year revenue forecast to $15.0 billion from a previous forecast of $15.3-$15.6 billion, below the consensus of $15.21 billion.
US Foods Holding (USFD) is down more than -7% after reporting Q1 net sales of $9.61 billion, below the consensus of $9.66 billion.
ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) is down more than -6% after reporting Q4 royalty revenue of $671 million, below the consensus of $693.3 million.
Coherent Corp (COHR) is down more than -6% after reporting a Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.41, right on expectations.
Earnings Reports(5/7/2026)
Airbnb Inc (ABNB), Akamai Technologies Inc (AKAM), Becton Dickinson & Co (BDX), Block Inc (XYZ), Charles River Laboratories Int (CRL), Coinbase Global Inc (COIN), Consolidated Edison Inc (ED), Corpay Inc (CPAY), Datadog Inc (DDOG), EPAM Systems Inc (EPAM), Evergy Inc (EVRG), Expedia Group Inc (EXPE), Gen Digital Inc (GEN), Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD), Howmet Aerospace Inc (HWM), Kenvue Inc (KVUE), McDonald's Corp (MCD), McKesson Corp (MCK), Mettler-Toledo International Inc (MTD), Microchip Technology Inc (MCHP), Monster Beverage Corp (MNST), Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI), News Corp (NWSA), Republic Services Inc (RSG), Sempra (SRE), Tapestry Inc (TPR), Targa Resources Corp (TRGP), Trade Desk Inc/The (TTD), Viatris Inc (VTRS), Vistra Corp (VST), WW Grainger Inc (GWW), Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN), Zoetis Inc (ZTS). On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
