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Halliburton Adds 2000 Jobs, Likely to Miss Profit Estimates

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Oilfield services giant Halliburton Company (HAL - Free Report) recently announced plans to hire over 2,000 oil field workers by the end of the first quarter, especially in West Texas. The company had retrenched 35,000 employees over the last two years during the oil downturn. However, the current hiring spree is attributed to the increased demand in the oil field services as the upstream sector has started gaining momentum of late.

The company seeks to increase on current spending even if it translates to narrower short-term earnings with an aim to earn higher long-term profits and maintaining market share. As it is, Halliburton is likely to take a $50 million hit on rising sand costs as it does not have sufficient supplies under contract. The rig count of the company has also risen to 789 from 404 in May due to increased oilfield activity.

Halliburton therefore expects its first quarter profits to miss the estimates owing to rising costs mainly from reactivation of equipments and increase in headcount.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Houston, TX-based Halliburton is one of the largest oilfield service providers in the world. It offers a variety of equipment, maintenance, and engineering and construction services to the energy, industrial, and government sectors.

The company has outperformed the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas-Field Services industry over the prior three months. During the aforesaid period, shares of Halliburton fell 9% while the broader industry declined around 12%.

Halliburton currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked players from the same industry include Basic Energy Services, Inc. , Flotek Industries, Inc. (FTK - Free Report) and Willbros Group, Inc. . All the three companies carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Basic Energy Services reported positive average earnings surprise of 2.7%.

Flotek is expected to deliver year-over-year growth of 304.4% in its earnings in 2018.

Willbros is expected to deliver year-over-year growth of 227.3% in its earnings in 2018.

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