Halliburton reported first-quarter 2026 net income of $461 million, or 55 cents a share, beating the FactSet consensus of 50 cents. [1] Revenue of $5.4 billion was essentially flat against the prior year and ran about $45 million ahead of the $5.36 billion street estimate. [2] The company said the Iran war cost Halliburton 2 to 3 cents of earnings per share in the quarter — the cleanest war-as-P&L line item in Tuesday's four-name industrial tape.

International revenue of $3.3 billion was up 3 percent; Latin America revenue grew 22 percent year over year on higher pressure-pumping services in Argentina, increased stimulation in Brazil, and improved pressure pumping in Angola. [3] The offset to those gains sat squarely in the Middle East. Middle East/Asia revenue fell 13 percent to $1.3 billion, driven by lower activity across multiple product and service lines in Saudi Arabia and decreased drilling-related services in Qatar. Company filings attribute the Middle East weakness specifically to the geopolitical conflict, which also reduced completion-tool sales and pressure-pumping services across the region. [3]

North America revenue fell 4 percent to $2.1 billion, reflecting lower stimulation activity on U.S. land and reduced fluid services in the Gulf of America. Completion & Production revenue was $3.0 billion, a 3 percent decline; Drilling & Evaluation revenue of $2.4 billion was up 4 percent, helped by higher wireline activity in the Eastern Hemisphere and in Latin America. [3] Operating margin came in at 13 percent; cash flow from operations was $273 million; the company repurchased approximately $100 million of stock.

The 2-to-3-cent Iran war impact is the data point to carry forward. Net of that drag, Halliburton's adjusted EPS would have run 57 to 58 cents against consensus of 50. [1] The Middle East revenue decline runs on a different timescale than the direct EPS impact: a 13 percent revenue decline in a region that supplies roughly a quarter of Halliburton's international book indicates customers are slowing project starts and deferring capital allocation, not just pausing shifts. Chairman Jeff Miller told analysts the company is "outpacing disruptions" and positioning for "the early innings of a recovery." [2]

The market reaction was cautious. Shares had run up 29 percent over the prior three months on oil-price strength and were down 1.3 percent at Tuesday's close. [4] The beat-and-miss dynamic — beat on EPS, miss on the Middle East — captures what the Tuesday tape framed as Halliburton's "cost-input" role: Brent above $100 is a tailwind to customer capex budgets, but a sustained Saudi and Qatari pullback is a headwind to the company's revenue base in the region that typically carries international growth.

That is the question Halliburton's Q2 call will have to answer: whether the Middle East decline is the floor or the start. Piper Sandler's Derek Podhaizer has a $40 target; Susquehanna's Charles Minervino has $45. The spread is the uncertainty priced in. The 2-to-3-cent print is the number the war left on the tape.

-- THEO KAPLAN, San Francisco