Shares of Schlumberger Ltd. SLB edged up 0.2% in premarket trading Friday, even after the oil services company reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations and increased its quarterly dividend by 43%. Net income rose to $1.07 billion, or 74 cents a share, from $601 million, or 42 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 71 cents topped the FactSet consensus of 68 cents. Revenue grew 26.6% to $7.88 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $7.81 billion, with growth seen in all business divisions. The company said the outlook for its business remains “very compelling,” as overall oil and gas demand is expected to increase in 2023 despite concerns over an economic slowdown, while supply remains tight and as concerns over energy security is prompting increased investments in energy services. Separately, the company raised its quarterly dividend to 25.0 cents a share from 17.5 cents a share, with the new dividend payable April 6 to shareholders of record on Feb. 8. The stock, which had closed Tuesday at the highest price since October 2018, has soared 25.6% over the past three months through Thursday, while the VanEck Oil Services exchange-traded fund OIH has climbed 19.7% and the S&P 500 SPX has gained 6.4%.
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