Oil & gas services Q1 2026 scoreboard — frac spreads and capex.

01 The headline read — Q1 2026 on the scoreboard

The seven names on this scoreboard filed Q1 2026 10-Qs between April 23 and May 8, 2026. Aggregate revenue across the cohort was approximately $24.3 billion for the quarter — Schlumberger $8.72B, Baker Hughes $6.59B, Halliburton $5.40B, Patterson-UTI $1.11B, Liberty Energy $1.02B, Helmerich & Payne $0.91B, ProFrac $0.45B. Compared with Q1 2025, the cohort total grew about 1% on revenue but the dispersion in profitability widened sharply.

The Q1 2026 net margin spread runs from BKR at +14.1% at the top to ACDC at -18.6% at the bottom — a roughly 33-point gap between the best and worst names in the same quarter, in the same industry, with the same commodity tape. That gap is approximately twice the 2024 cohort dispersion. The driver is composition: international + technology-rich (BKR IET, SLB Digital, HAL international cementing/completions) vs N.A. land + commodity pressure pumping (PTEN completions, HP US drilling, ACDC frac fleet, LBRT frac core).

WTI averaged about $72/bbl in Q1 2026 — essentially flat year-over-year on a quarter-average basis, but the path inside the quarter was dramatic: January $60.04, February $64.51, then March $91.38 driven by a late-quarter geopolitical price spike that did not show up in Q1 reported revenue but front-loaded Q2 backlog. Henry Hub gas averaged $4.79/MMBtu, more than triple the Q1 2024 average of $2.13 — the gas tape supported Haynesville and Marcellus completions decisively through the quarter.

02 The Big 3 — HAL, SLB, BKR holding the floor

The three names with international exposure, integrated technology, and diversified product lines posted Q1 2026 results that look like a different industry from the N.A. land cohort. Each tells a slightly different story underneath the consolidated number.

Halliburton (HAL) — margin recovery from Q3 2025 trough

HAL filed Q1 2026 revenue of $5.40B (essentially flat YoY) with operating income of $679M, up 57.5% from Q1 2025's $431M. Net income of $461M and diluted EPS of $0.55 more than doubled the prior-year quarter. Q3 2025 was the cycle trough for HAL with $356M of operating income; the recovery from there into Q4 2025 ($727M) and Q1 2026 ($679M) is the cleanest read on what the international + Middle East cementing/completions mix can deliver when N.A. is soft. Share repurchases halved from $250M in Q1 2025 to $100M in Q1 2026 — even with profits up, the company is preserving cash through the cycle.

Schlumberger (SLB) — ChampionX integration on top of international floor

SLB filed Q1 2026 revenue of $8.72B, up 2.7% YoY, with net income of $752M (down 5.6% YoY) and diluted EPS of $0.50. The headline year-over-year EPS decline is misleading; goodwill jumped from $14.64B to $16.85B and total assets from $49.0B to $54.5B because the ChampionX acquisition closed in 2H 2025, adding the production chemicals + artificial lift platform that is now in the consolidated numbers. The most telling signal is the buyback line: SLB returned $451M to shareholders via repurchases in Q1 2026, down -80% from Q1 2025's $2.30B. International + Production Systems + Digital is the floor underneath SLB; the buyback compression is the capital-preservation overlay.

Baker Hughes (BKR) — IET breakaway and the Chart Industries close

BKR is the standout: Q1 2026 revenue $6.59B (+2.5% YoY) and net income $930M (+131% YoY). Total assets jumped from $40.9B at Dec 31, 2025 to $50.9B at Mar 31, 2026 — the Chart Industries merger closed during the quarter, adding the LNG turbine equipment, cryogenics, and air-cooled heat exchanger lines that complement IET (Industrial & Energy Technology). IET is the segment doing the heavy lifting on the consolidated growth story — LNG capacity expansion contracts, data-center power orders, and turbine aftermarket service revenue are growing 30%+ YoY. OFSE (Oilfield Services & Equipment), the legacy core, is flat to low-single-digits. Buyback was zero in Q1, consistent with financing close.

03 The N.A. land cohort — running at or below breakeven

The four N.A. land services operators in the scoreboard — PTEN, HP, LBRT, ACDC — filed a meaningfully different quarter from the Big 3. Three of four ran negative net margin; the fourth (Liberty) is positive only by 2.2% and is using the equity market to pivot away from pure pressure pumping. The story underneath is fleet rationalization, working-capital drain, and the bifurcation between Tier 1 and Tier 2/3 frac fleets that has been forming for two years and finally crystallized in Q1 2026.

Patterson-UTI (PTEN) — the post-NexTier consolidated read

PTEN is the merged Patterson + NexTier entity (NEX absorbed September 2023), so the consolidated Q1 2026 financials are the cleanest available read on N.A. land drilling + completions combined under one roof. Q1 2026 revenue of $1.111B was down -12.1% YoY from $1.265B. Operating loss of -$14.3M and net loss of -$24.6M follow a Q3 2025 quarter that included a -$990M operating loss line — the impairment hit on Completions PP&E that wrote down the value of 4-5 Tier 2/3 frac spreads to zero in the value-engineering process. PP&E net is $2.63B at Q1 2026, down -$309M YoY: depreciation is running approximately $200M ahead of capex on an annual basis, which is the textbook sign of an industry shrinking its asset base.

Helmerich & Payne (HP) — KCA Deutag drag, three quarters of losses

HP fiscal Q2 2026 (calendar Q1 2026) revenue of $906M is the third consecutive quarter of net loss — -$58.6M in fiscal Q2, -$96.7M in fiscal Q1, -$162.8M in fiscal Q4 2025. The KCA Deutag international rig acquisition that closed January 2025 added international scale but the integration is dragging margin; goodwill was cut from $344M to $183M during the year, reflecting an impairment on the international platform. Long-term debt of $2.00B is the new structural feature — pre-KCA HP carried less than $600M of LTD. The integration question has now extended into a third reporting period; management withdrew full-year guidance in the Q1 release.

Liberty Energy (LBRT) — pivoting out of pure frac

LBRT Q1 2026 revenue of $1.02B (+4.5% YoY) with operating income of $22.3M and net income of $22.6M kept the company on the right side of breakeven, but the gross margin compression is the more important data point: cost of revenue was $843.8M on $1,021M of revenue, implying gross margin of 17.4% — down from 22.1% in Q1 2025. That is roughly 470 basis points of gross-margin compression in twelve months, almost all of it from frac-spread pricing under pressure. The balance-sheet event during the quarter: Liberty raised approximately $1.03B of long-term debt (LTD jumped from $247M to $1,278M, cash from $28M to $699M). The capital is funding the IMG Energy Solutions power-generation buildout — Liberty is moving aggressively to convert the operating expertise from gas-powered frac fleets into a stationary power-generation business targeted at data centers and industrial customers. The market read: pressure pumping core has structural margin pressure; power-gen is where the next 18 months of growth will sit.

ProFrac (ACDC) — interest coverage as the binding constraint

ACDC Q1 2026 is the canary. Revenue $449.6M, down -25% YoY. Operating loss -$46.4M (margin -10.3%). Net loss -$83.5M. The pull is structural: interest expense for the quarter was $32.8M, larger than the operating loss before D&A would suggest the company can sustainably cover. PP&E net fell from $1.71B to $1.41B YoY (-$300M), reflecting fleet sales, scrappage, or impairment. Stockholders' equity has compressed from $1.10B at Q3 2024 to $617M at Q1 2026 — a -44% equity erosion across six quarters. Long-term debt is $867M against equity of $617M (debt-to-equity 1.4x) and the interest line is the binding constraint on operating maneuver.

04 The commodity tape behind the quarter

No oil and gas services scoreboard is complete without the commodity tape that frames operator capex decisions. The Q1 2026 backdrop was a bifurcated picture: oil weak then surging late, gas elevated through the entire quarter.

WTI averaged $72.31/bbl across Q1 2026 (Jan $60.04, Feb $64.51, Mar $91.38). The path is what matters: oil spent the first 60 days of the quarter at $60-65 — sub-breakeven for many Tier 2/3 frac fleets in the Permian and Eagle Ford, where the cash-margin breakeven for a sub-80%-utilized older diesel fleet is roughly $70-75 WTI. The late-March geopolitical spike to $91 was a back-half-quarter event that delivered no revenue impact to the reporting period and only modest backlog signal by quarter-close. April 2026 WTI averaged $100.32; if it sustains, Q2 2026 reporting will tell a different story.

Henry Hub averaged $4.79/MMBtu for Q1 2026 — more than triple the Q1 2024 average of $2.13. January 2026 saw a $7.72 spike on cold weather + LNG export demand; even after normalization, the Q1 average is supportive of gas-directed completions in Haynesville and the Marcellus dry-gas window. This is what is propping up the gas-weighted completion order book for LBRT, ACDC, and the smaller private operators — and why the Big 3 international story is not the only differentiator in Q1 2026.

US Baker Hughes weekly rig count averaged approximately 570-575 in Q1 2026, down from approximately 590 in Q1 2025 and approximately 620 in Q1 2024. The decline is steady, not collapsing — operator drilling commitments are stickier than completion timing decisions. DUC (drilled-but-uncompleted) well count per EIA STEO has risen from a 2023 trough near 4,200 to approximately 4,800 in Q1 2026 — operators are drilling but holding completions until economics improve, which is the cleanest leading indicator for frac-spread utilization in the back half of 2026.

05 Frac spread economics — utilization, tier, and pricing

The frac-spread market is where the N.A. land cohort margin compression actually lives. Three operating data points anchor the analysis.

First, active US frac spread count averaged approximately 195-205 in Q1 2026, down from ~225 in Q1 2025 and ~265 in Q1 2024 (industry estimates from Primary Vision and listed-company commentary). That is approximately -25% over 24 months. The decline is concentrated in Tier 3 (legacy diesel, sub-2018 vintage, undifferentiated) fleets that have been parked or scrapped rather than re-competing for low-price work. Tier 1 fleets (gas-powered, electric, dual-fuel, integrated logistics) are operating at 80-90% utilization with limited slot availability for spot work.

Second, frac-spread pricing has compressed measurably year-over-year. Liberty's implied gross margin moved from 22.1% in Q1 2025 to 17.4% in Q1 2026 — a 470-basis-point compression in 12 months that is essentially a pure price-and-utilization read because LBRT's cost structure is comparatively stable. ProFrac's revenue per fleet declined an estimated 12-15% YoY based on revenue / approximate fleet count, with PP&E net down -$300M YoY (fleet count reduction itself).

Third, the labor-cost line is not where the margin compression is coming from. BLS data for oil & gas extraction (NAICS 211) shows average hourly earnings of $51.14 in March 2026 — essentially back to the 2023 peak of $51.09. Wages have not collapsed. What has fallen is revenue per FTE — the utilization side of the margin equation. Direct extraction employment is at 115.2k as of April 2026, down from a 2024 peak of 122.6k (-6%). Services-side employment has fallen more — Big 3 OFS headcount is down 5-8% per investor decks; PTEN is down approximately 10%+ post-2024 fleet rationalization. The cycle is shrinking the asset base and the headcount in parallel; the wage rate per worker has held.

06 Capex, cash flow, and the buyback signal

Across the seven-name cohort, the Q1 2026 capital-allocation pattern is consistent and revealing. Operating cash flow was down significantly year-over-year across nearly every name (HAL -28%, SLB -26%, BKR -30%, LBRT -96%, PTEN -69%, ACDC -76%). Working-capital build (inventory + receivables) absorbed the activity bump from the late-March WTI spike — Q2 should release some of that — but the immediate cash-flow read is constraint.

Capex discipline tightened. SLB Q1 2026 capex was $343M, down -14% YoY. PTEN capex was $116.6M, down -28% YoY. HP fiscal Q1 capex (calendar Q4 2025) was $67.6M, less than half of the prior calendar year. ACDC capex of $40.7M was down -22% YoY. The pattern is industry-wide: defer non-essential spend, preserve liquidity, wait for commodity signal. This is what cycle bottoms look like.

The buyback line is where the capital-preservation signal is loudest. SLB cut buybacks from $2.30B to $451M (-80%). HAL cut from $250M to $100M (-60%). BKR went from $188M to $0. PTEN essentially zeroed its buyback ($20M down to $0.35M). The boards across the cohort are saying: cycle is not over, hold cash. The Big 3 each carry net leverage that allows them to absorb a low-cash quarter; the N.A. land cohort has less margin for error.

07 What this means for private $30-200M services operators

The listed scoreboard answers a question most private services operators in the $30-200M revenue band ask every quarter: am I supposed to be cash-generative through this cycle, or is everyone underwater? The answer in Q1 2026 is tier-dependent, and the bifurcation in the listed cohort is the cleanest read on what private peers should be modeling for the remainder of 2026.

1. 01
   For Tier 1 fleet operators (newer, gas-powered, integrated logistics): Liberty's 2.2% net margin at $1B of revenue is the benchmark. Smaller private Tier 1 operators with $30-150M of revenue and clean operating discipline should be running 2-5% net margin in Q1 2026 — positive cash, but capex deferred and growth-spend frozen. If your Tier 1 operation ran negative in Q1 2026, the fleet is not the problem; the cost structure is.
2. 02
   For Tier 2 operators (mid-vintage, dual-fuel, some logistics): Operating margin of -2% to +2% is the band, and the binding question is interest coverage. Look at ACDC: interest expense $33M is larger than the operating loss before D&A. Private operators with $50-200M of revenue and asset-backed debt at 7-9% are running into the same problem. The clean playbook is fleet rationalization — scrap or sell Tier 3, concentrate operating effort on the best 60-70% of the fleet, take the writedown now rather than next year. This is the same calculation PTEN ran in Q3 2025 with the -$990M impairment.
3. 03
   For Tier 3 operators (legacy diesel, undifferentiated): Q1 2026 operating margin is structurally -5% to -10%. The breakeven WTI is in the $80-90 range; below that, every quarter is a cash drain. Operators in this band have three options: (1) sell the fleet to a consolidator while there is still equity value, (2) park the fleet and consolidate to Tier 1/2 service offerings, (3) ride the cycle and hope for sustained WTI above $85 — which is a low-probability bet given the late-March 2026 geopolitical spike has not held into May at the time of writing.

The capital question is the gating one. The Big 3 cut buybacks 60-100% in Q1 2026 because their boards can read the same cash-flow tea leaves the private market is dealing with. For a private operator with sponsor capital expecting distributions, the right conversation right now is: pull the buyback signal forward by one quarter — preserve cash, defer capex, take the writedown if Tier 3 is on the balance sheet at carrying values that no longer match the market. Doing it before Q3 2026 puts the operator in a stronger negotiating position if the cycle extends; doing it after means competing for fleet sales with the listed names also rationalizing.

08 What we are watching into Q2 2026

Three signals will shape the Q2 2026 scoreboard read. First, whether the WTI spike to $100 in April holds into May/June — sustained $85+ WTI is the threshold that brings Tier 2 frac economics back to positive operating margin and reduces fleet-rationalization pressure on the private cohort. Second, whether the DUC count starts working down — if operators begin completing the ~4,800 backlog with the better commodity tape, frac-spread utilization in Tier 1 and Tier 2 fleets should tighten through summer, which is where the pricing recovery starts. Third, whether the Big 3 international order book holds — Aramco voluntary cuts, Pemex spending pullback, and offshore deepwater FID timing are the swing factors that determine whether the international floor under HAL/SLB/BKR firms or softens in 2H 2026.

The Q2 2026 scoreboard update is scheduled for August 2026 (post-Q2 10-Q filings). The shape of the cycle will be clearer then; the listed cohort's decisions on buybacks, capex guidance, and fleet writedowns through Q2 will tell the back-half story.