Shares of U.S. onshore energy services provider Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) jumped nearly 14% out of the gate on July 23. By around 10:30 a.m. EDT, the stock had pulled back a little but remained higher by about 10%. The big news driving the stock higher was earnings.
At first blush there really wasn't much to like about Patterson-UTI's headline number. It lost $0.81 per share, more than three times worse than the loss in the previous year. However, 2020 has been anything but normal in the energy sector, with oil prices actually falling below zero at one point in the first half. There has been an incredibly deep retrenchment, particularly in the U.S. onshore space that is Patterson-UTI's focus. So, in some ways, the company actually did reasonably well, given the circumstances.
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