Schlumberger shares jumped 7.08% to close at $53.06 after the oilfield services giant posted third-quarter revenue of $9.45 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $0.64, both topping Wall Street expectations. Revenue climbed 5% sequentially, with management pointing to a gradual recovery in Middle East drilling, continued strength in North America and solid offshore international activity as the main drivers. The quarter capped a stretch in which the stock has risen 7.19% over the last five trading days, even though it remains down 5.35% over the past 30 sessions and well off its 52-week high of $60.46.
CEO Olivier Le Peuch highlighted the production systems segment, including the integration of ChampionX and subsea activity, as a core growth engine, while executives said pre-tax segment operating margins expanded across all four divisions. The company's push into digital and data center infrastructure also drew attention this week after SLB opened a new modular facility in Canada tied to a partnership serving Meta, a move that extends the business beyond its traditional oilfield roots and comes as data center-related demand was cited as surging 76% year over year on the earnings call.
Not every read on the quarter was uniformly bullish. One analysis flagged that trailing net profit margin sits near 8.4%, down from 10.3% a year earlier, arguing the market's enthusiastic reaction contrasts with a tighter underlying margin picture even as headline revenue and earnings beat forecasts. That tension between a well-received top-line beat and compressing profitability is likely to shape how investors weigh the stock's next moves.
What happens next for SLB probably hinges on whether the Middle East recovery broadens and whether margin expansion across the four divisions, which management pointed to on the call, is enough to offset the year-over-year profitability slide flagged by skeptics. The company's expanding data center footprint, still a small piece of the overall business, adds a new variable worth watching alongside the traditional oilfield metrics in quarters ahead.