Helmerich and Payne Inc

The first commercial natural gas deliveries from Australia's Beetaloo Basin began flowing to the Northern Territory in September, a milestone for Tamboran Resources and Daly Waters Energy after years of roadblocks. Tamboran and Daly Waters announced the first natural gas sales ever from the basin, with five wells now ramping up production to 40 million cubic feet of gas per day, and plans to grow to 100 million in 2028 once a gas-processing expansion is complete. Bryan Sheffield, the Texas oil CEO who founded Formentera Partners and Daly Waters Energy, said the milestone shows the basin can deliver but it still must prove it can become economic over the long term. Sheffield's capital influx was critical, as was recruiting American oilfield services players with shale expertise: Helmerich & Payne, Baker Hughes, and Liberty Energy, the company cofounded by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, all took ownership stakes in Tamboran, while Beetaloo Energy recently contracted with Halliburton. Tamboran admits it needs a larger partner to keep scaling, and a new auditor's report still flags its financial viability as a going concern. The timing matters for Australia, which could face natural gas shortfalls in the coming years, with Qatar largely offline because of the Iran war and more of Australia's offshore gas fields drying up.

Helmerich & Payne said it expects direct margins across its North America Solutions, International Solutions and Offshore Solutions businesses to come in at or near the high end of previously issued fiscal fourth-quarter guidance, with International Solutions direct margins of around $45 million near the upper end of the prior $25-$45 million range. North America Solutions average rig count is expected near the high end of its guided range, while International Solutions and Offshore Solutions are each expected near the midpoint of their ranges for average rig count and management contracts, and other financial guidance items from the Aug. 5 earnings release remain unchanged. Management expects overall direct margins in fiscal 2027 to be stronger than in fiscal 2026, with robust North America activity and stronger Latin America activity partly offsetting near-term reductions in the Middle East, and reiterated its commitment to reducing leverage to approximately 1x net debt to adjusted EBITDA by calendar year-end 2027 while maintaining the base dividend. Separately, Helmerich & Payne announced that ExxonMobil plans to add seven more FlexRobotics systems over the next 12 months after the initial deployment of two systems on HP rigs, bringing the total number of FlexRobotics systems operating for ExxonMobil to nine. The company said the update was provided on Oct. 7.

Helmerich & Payne management said fiscal Q4 segment margins will land at or near the high end of guidance and announced a larger FlexRobotics deployment with ExxonMobil. The stock last closed at $39.64, with a 7 day share price return of 6.73%, a 90 day share price return of 21.04%, a 30 day share price return of negative 10.64%, a year to date share price return of 32.40% and a 1 year total shareholder return of 71.47%. The most followed narrative values Helmerich & Payne at $44.75, roughly 11% above the last close, a gap that hinges on converting technology and global rig deployments in Vaca Muerta, the Middle East and offshore into consistent direct margins and free cash flow. Risks to that story include drilling overcapacity pressuring dayrates and conflict-related disruptions hitting international margins.

Helmerich & Payne announced an expanded deployment of its FlexRobotics technology with ExxonMobil, adding seven new systems over the next 12 months to the two already running on H&P rigs, bringing the total number of systems operating to nine. The expansion builds on the successful deployment of the first two FlexRobotics systems and supports ExxonMobil's broader efforts to deploy advanced technologies across its entire drilling operations. FlexRobotics automates repetitive rig-floor activities, reducing personnel exposure to higher-risk tasks while improving consistency, precision and operational efficiency. H&P President and Chief Executive Officer Trey Adams said the expansion demonstrates the value automation can deliver in modern drilling operations, while ExxonMobil Senior Vice President of Unconventional Bart Cahir said the move builds on what the company learned from its initial deployments.

President Trump announced Monday that Exxon Mobil is among oil companies planning to do business in Venezuela, touting a deal that would grant the U.S. access to about 20% of Venezuela's crude reserves and more than double U.S. oil reserves. Trump said Exxon, Chevron, and other big oil companies are bidding, and that the U.S. is taking out millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela for Gulf Coast refineries. Exxon has not commented on the claim, and its CEO Darren Woods previously called Venezuela uninvestable, though the company said in March it would send a technical team to study opportunities. The agreement, announced Friday, gives the U.S. a direct financial stake in a private company led by Alejandro Betancourt, which would receive century-long rights to 65 billion barrels of reserves. Betancourt's company, already the second-largest private producer in Venezuela behind Chevron, plans to deploy over 50 drilling rigs and has acquired 23 new rigs from U.S. contractors Helmerich & Payne, Precision Drilling, and Patterson-UTI Energy.

Exxon Mobil plans to transition half of its Permian Basin drilling fleet to automated rigs by 2028 as part of a push to boost production in the basin by nearly 40% to 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030. The company currently operates more than 30 drilling rigs in the Permian, two of which are automated rigs with robotic equipment, including its first automated rig supplied by drilling contractor Helmerich & Payne installed last year. Bart Cahir, Exxon's senior vice president of unconventionals, told Reuters that removing workers from the rig floor reduces variability and allows them to focus on other operations, increasing drilling efficiency. Cahir noted that about a third of significant injuries in well drilling occur on the rig floor, so automation essentially eliminates that risk.

Helmerich & Payne declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share with an ex-dividend date of August 18, 2026. The most followed narrative on Simply Wall St points to a fair value of about $41.47 per share, implying the stock is 14.8% undervalued relative to its last close of $35.34. That fair value estimate is above the analyst price target of $40.80 and rests on expectations for higher margins, sustained profitability, and a future P/E below the sector average but above today's implied level. The narrative highlights that a 20% year-over-year increase in app adoption and performance-based contracts is driving stronger customer value creation and differentiated pricing, supporting higher revenue and margin expansion. However, heavy exposure to U.S. shale and the risk of prolonged rig overcapacity could pressure day rates and keep margins under strain.

StockStory identified Helmerich & Payne as an energy stock to watch, citing its 32.2% annual revenue growth over the past five years and an 11-percentage-point EBITDA margin expansion. The firm flagged Halliburton and NOV as stocks to sell, pointing to Halliburton’s 16.8% gross margin and NOV’s 3.3% annual sales decline over the last decade along with a 3.4% free cash flow margin. Helmerich & Payne trades at 30.4 times forward earnings, while Halliburton and NOV trade at 13.6 and 17.9 times forward earnings, respectively.