What happened
Core Laboratories (CLB) published its latest set of quarterly results after market hours on Wednesday, revealing slight misses on both the top and bottom lines. Investors clearly weren't in an understanding or forgiving mood the following day, and they traded the specialty oilfield services company's stock down by 1% on an otherwise up day for the broader market.
So what
For its second quarter, Core Labs lifted its revenue nearly 5% higher on a year-over-year basis to just shy of $121 million. On the bottom line, the company flipped to a GAAP profit of slightly over $7 million, or $0.15 per share. On a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis, that per-share net income figure was $0.12.
That wasn't quite enough to meet the average consensus analyst estimate of $0.14 per share. Nor was revenue, which those prognosticators were collectively modeling at slightly under $122 million.
Core Labs, which operates around the world, said that the strong U.S. dollar negatively affected its financials, as did the war in Ukraine.
Now what
Nevertheless, sounding an upbeat note, Core Labs said it's forecasting "improving momentum in both onshore and offshore client activity across our global operations."
Reflecting this optimistic tone, the company is guiding for third-quarter revenue of $123 million to $129 million, filtering down into operating income of $10.1 million to $13.3 million. Per-share headline earnings should come in at $0.13 to $0.18. Both ranges compare favorably to 2021's third quarter, in which the company earned $118 million on the top line, and posted only $0.02 per share in net income.
