NEW YORK, July 24, 2026, 11:05 EDT — SLB NYSE:SLB shares rose 9% in early trading, with the company reporting a 5% dip in revenue when excluding the impact of ChampionX.
- SLB rose 9.4% to $51.68 in early New York trading.
- Adjusted earnings were 55 cents per share, topping the 51 cents that analysts anticipated. Revenue surpassed expectations by roughly $300 million.
- Revenue increased by 5%. Excluding the ChampionX acquisition, revenue declined by 5%.
The gains followed more than just an earnings beat. Investors seemed to react to rising margins and an improved outlook for the second half.
ChampionX accounted for $870 million in revenue during the second quarter. SLB’s overall revenue growth for the year reached only $426 million. This means the acquisition represented a little more than double the reported gain. Revenue without ChampionX was roughly $8.10 billion.
| Q2 measure | Result | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Reported revenue | $8.972 billion | 5% higher than last year |
| Revenue excluding ChampionX | About $8.102 billion | Approximately 5% lower |
| ChampionX contribution | $870 million | Equal to 2.04 times the overall net revenue growth |
| Digital revenue and EBITDA margin | $697 million; 34.7% | Revenue climbed 18% |
| Production Systems revenue | $3.771 billion | Advanced 29%; unchanged on pro forma basis |
| Middle East and Asia revenue | $2.572 billion | Fell 14% |
*Figures based on SLB’s rounded disclosures. The firm provided the other amounts as reported.
Digital delivered the strongest signal for quality, making up 7.8% of sales and contributing 12.7% to adjusted EBITDA. Its margin stood at 34.7%, well above the group average of 21.2%.
Revenue from Data Center Solutions climbed 80% compared to a year earlier. The figure was also up 33% over the previous quarter. Management continues to aim for a run rate exceeding $1 billion by the end of the year.
The target represents roughly 3% of the group’s current annualized revenue. SLB anticipates the run rate will surpass $2 billion by the end of 2027. Meta Platforms NASDAQ:META has chosen SLB for a proposed one-gigawatt data center project in Canada.
The purchase began to pay off right away for Production Systems. Revenue increased by 29% as reported, while pro-forma revenue was unchanged. Adjusted EBITDA margin climbed 109 basis points quarter-on-quarter to reach 19.6%.
Traditional drilling operations continued to be sluggish. Reservoir Performance revenue was down 8%, and Well Construction saw a decrease of 7%. Sales in the Middle East and Asia were $414 million lower.
Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch stated the quarter signaled “a return to year-on-year revenue growth outside the Middle East.” Offshore operations increased in Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia. SLB
SLB anticipates third-quarter revenue rising by 3% to 4% on a sequential basis, which would put sales at approximately $9.24 billion to $9.33 billion. The firm projects EBITDA margin to widen by around 75 basis points.
The company’s preliminary forecast for the fourth quarter anticipates revenue to exceed $10 billion. The adjusted EBITDA margin is projected to be around 24%, provided revenue from the Middle East rebounds to a range between $2.1 billion and $2.2 billion.
SLB outperformed its nearest publicly traded competitors. Halliburton NYSE:HAL was up 2.0%, while Baker Hughes NASDAQ:BKR added 3.1%. Earlier, Halliburton cautioned that recovery in the Middle East continued to depend on day-to-day developments.
James West, an analyst at Melius Research, summed up SLB’s global footprint as follows: “Every international market is their backyard.” He anticipates significant gains for the company from increased production. Fortune
Free cash flow totaled $716 million. SLB allocated $648 million to share buybacks and maintained its goal of returning over $4 billion in 2026.
Risks: The outlook is based on a slow recovery in the Middle East. Any renewed disruptions risk cutting third-quarter revenue by $150 million and EBITDA by $75 million. Revenue, excluding ChampionX, continues to trail last year’s level.
Baker Hughes is set to release results on Sunday. The company’s outlook will show if SLB’s margin rebound is echoed throughout the industry.
