Investing.com — reported first-quarter core earnings of $23.2 million on Wednesday, a pace that puts the British oilfield equipment maker well short of the trajectory required to meet its full-year target, sending shares down by 3%.
The Q1 figure represented a 10% EBITDA margin and just 15.5% of the midpoint of the company’s unchanged full-year guidance range of $145 million to $155 million.
With management projecting a 40:60 first-half to second-half earnings split, the second quarter must deliver approximately $37 million to keep the first half on track, a near-doubling of the Q1 run rate.
RBC Capital Markets said the result reflected order and delivery timing rather than underlying weakness, keeping its “outperform” rating with a 550 pence price target.
The brokerage’s own full-year EBITDA estimate of $149.2 million sits within guidance, with adjusted earnings per share forecast at $0.46.
Net cash fell to $8.3 million at March 31 from $63 million at full-year 2025, a drawdown of nearly $55 million in a single quarter, driven by working capital investment and the ongoing share buyback.
The sales order book stood at $428.8 million as of April 14, up from $358 million at year-end 2025, with $95.6 million in non-oil and gas orders. Growth was underpinned by new subsea awards, including titanium stress joints secured for a project in Guyana.
Oil country tubular goods tender activity remained strong across most regions with the pipeline at approximately $1 billion, though tender issuance in the Middle East has slipped since March, with results now expected in the second quarter.
The Titan division benefited from higher-quality sales and production efficiencies, while Perforating Systems in North America reported performance ahead of expectations.
Operations and personnel in Dubai and Saudi Arabia were unaffected by regional conflict, with management expecting minimal impact on current-year production.
Hunting said its $15 million EMEA cost reduction programme was on track for delivery by early 2028, and announced the merger of its EMEA and Asia Pacific segments into a single International segment effective January 1, 2027.
RBC cited growth opportunities in organic oil recovery, subsea and the continued buyback as underpinning its rating, while flagging a downside scenario of 210 pence should fall below $50 per barrel for a prolonged period.