Baker Hughes Co. BKR reported Wednesday first-quarter profit and revenue that rose above expectations, amid strength in its oilfield services and equipment business. The oil services company’s stock was little changed in the premarket. Net income rose to $576 million, or 57 cents a share, from $72 million, or 8 cents a share. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share increased to 28 cents from 15 cents and topped the FactSet consensus of 26 cents. Revenue grew 18.2% to $5.72 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $5.55 billion. Orders rose 11.6% to $7.63 billion, as oilfield services and equipment orders jumped 25.4% to $4.10 billion and industrial and energy technology orders fell 1% to $3.53 billion. “We continue to believe that the current environment remains unique, with a spending cycle that is more durable and less sensitive to commodity price swings, relative to prior cycles,” said Chief Executive Officer Lorenzo Simonelli. “Another notable characteristic of this cycle is the continued shift towards the development of natural gas and LNG [liquid natural gas].” The stock has eased 0.1% year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 8.2%.
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