RPC, Inc. (RES)

Despite another 500+ drop on the Dow, RPC, Inc. (RES - Snapshot Report) was able to put together a respectable gain of a little more than 5.5% on Wednesday. That result was enough to make this oilfield services & equipment company the top-performing Zacks #1 Rank for the session.

A lot of investors apparently took some refuge with RES as volume soared past 3.5 million shares, compared to the daily average of around 1.7 million.

The past 30 days have seen a number of upward revisions from analysts covering this company. Specifically, RES has enjoyed 8 upward revisions for 2011 out of 11 total estimates, and 7 upward revisions for 2012 with the same number of estimates. That's pretty good agreement among analysts.

As a result, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is up nearly 4% in the past month to $2.12 per share from $2.04. The expectation for next year has moved even more sharply higher by 9% to $2.54 from $2.33. At this moment, analysts see year-over-year growth of nearly 20% for 2012.

The upward earnings estimate momentum was sparked by a solid second quarter report from late July. Earnings per share of 50 cents improved from last year and matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Revenues jumped more than 75% to $443 million, thanks to higher activity levels, a larger fleet of revenue-producing equipment, expanded customer relationships and improved pricing.

RES also raised its quarterly cash dividend.

RPC provides a broad range of specialized oilfield services and equipment, primarily to independent and major oilfield companies engaged in the exploration, production and development of oil and gas properties throughout the U.S., including the Gulf of Mexico, mid-continent, southwest, Appalachian and Rocky Mountain regions, as well as selected international markets.

The company is part of the well-represented oil – field services industry. There are six other names from this space on today's Zacks #1 Rank List, including Basic Energy Services, Inc. (BAS - Snapshot Report), Halliburton Company (HAL - Analyst Report), Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (HLX - Snapshot Report), Key Energy Services, Inc. (KEG - Snapshot Report), Newpark Resources, Inc. (NR - Snapshot Report) and TGC Industries, Inc. (TGE - Snapshot Report).

Read the full analyst report on BAS

Read the full analyst report on NR

Read the full analyst report on RES

Read the full analyst report on HLX

Read the full analyst report on HAL

Read the full analyst report on KEG

Read the full analyst report on TGE