TS - Helmerich & Payne Liberty Energy cut at Morgan Stanley

2023-04-18 12:58:53 ET

Helmerich & Payne ( NYSE: HP ) trades slightly lower Tuesday as Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $45 price target, saying it expects below-consensus earnings coming in Q3 and FY 2023.

Morgan Stanley said it expects the focus around HP ( HP ) results will include U.S. macro data points and commentary, with oil vs. gas drilling expectations, operator activity trend expectations, and industry-level pricing and activity commentary.

The bank also cut Liberty Energy ( NYSE: LBRT ) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $17 PT, anticipating below-consensus Q1 EBITDA results and Q2 and full-year guidance.

Among large caps heading into quarterly earnings, Morgan Stanley said it is "most constructive" on Halliburton ( HAL ) and Tenaris ( TS ), seeing slight earnings upside but a more meaningful free cash flow inflection.

The bank is "more tactically cautious" on NOV ( NOV ), expecting generally in-line earnings and consensus but believing H1 free cash flow estimates might be too optimistic.

NOV ( NOV ) is "well positioned to outlast another downturn given their low leverage and strong liquidity," DT Analysis writes in a report published recently on Seeking Alpha .

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