Helmerich Payne (NYSE: HP) reported Q4 EPS of ($0.14), ex-items, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of ($0.19). Revenue for the quarter came in at $532.3 million versus the consensus estimate of $491.66 million.

President and CEO John Lindsay commented, “Fiscal 2017 witnessed the largest ramp up of U.S. land rig activity in the Company’s history, which more than doubled even in the face of oil price uncertainty and volatility. We began the year with 95 rigs running in U.S. land and closed the year with 197 rigs after reactivating 102 FlexRigs while upgrading 91 of those to super-spec capacity. Our Family of Solutions with over 2000 rig years of FlexRig experience allows us to provide the right rig for the customer and enabled us to grow U.S. land market share to 20%.

“The fourth fiscal quarter headlines were dominated by oil price uncertainty which remained range-bound in the mid $40s and set expectations for a substantial rig count reduction for the balance of 2017. Even with that cautious outlook, H&P was able to grow its rig count and leading edge pricing due to the value proposition we provide to customers. We have also seen some improvement in our international markets with the rig count significantly increasing during the quarter.

“Looking forward, the increases in oil prices during the past few weeks could provide opportunities for rig count growth and higher dayrates, improving our key financial metrics. H&P continues to be uniquely positioned to grow its active rig count without building new rigs whether that be under improved commodity pricing or the range-bound pricing we experienced most of this past year. The industry’s super-spec fleet in the U.S. has approximately 400 rigs today and the fleet appears close to being fully utilized. With nearly full utilization and bolstered by continued demand by E&Ps for rigs capable of effectively drilling more complex horizontal wells with longer laterals, we believe the rig replacement cycle continues. Unlike our peers, H&P has the capability to upgrade over 100 more existing FlexRigs to super-spec capacity, about a third of which are already active. Clearly, demand will drive those decisions and we are optimistic that customers will be willing to sponsor the investment to upgrade rigs to super-spec capacity through higher dayrates and term contracts. In addition to having the right rig assets, we have the people, systems and technology to support our value proposition to the customer.”

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