Smith International 2Q earnings surge, beat Street
NEW YORK—Oilfield services company Smith International Inc. reported a surge in second-quarter profits and revenue Thursday to levels that beat Wall Street's expectations.
For the period ended June 30, the company posted profit of $183.3 million, or 91 cents per share, compared with profit of $153.1 million, or 76 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected, on average, the Houston-based company to earn 89 cents per share.
Revenue jumped about 18 percent to $2.49 billion from $2.11 billion, well above the $2.38 billion analysts had expected.
"We at Smith are encouraged by the improving market conditions for the second half of 2008," Chairman and Chief Executive Doug Rock said in a release. "We're also pleased to see crude oil prices begin to moderate as the most immediate threat to drilling activity is demand destruction caused by high oil prices."
The release comes after Smith said last month it will buy W-H Energy Services Inc. in a cash and stock deal valued at roughly $3.2 billion.
Shares fell $2.05, or 2.6 percent, to $77.61 in the afternoon session as the energy sector was mostly in negative territory and the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 150 points.
